Stephen Bird, the CEO of Standard Life Aberdeen, was brought on board by Sir Douglas Flint after a merger in 2017 between Standard Life and Aberdeen assets management that saw the company’s market value start t plummet from 11 billion euros to five billion euros through investor withdrawals.
Stephen Bird set out a three-year plan to return the company to success by using modern modes of investing. He used the below modes to revive the company.
Cost cutting measures
Bird started by evaluating all the operational departments, setting up an executive team, and instituting the company’s strategy for long-term growth. He also went ahead to cut costs that were deemed unnecessary and noted the confused branding needed fixing. He also stopped the decline in revenue and slowed the significant cash outflow. Read more on Medium
Fixed the confusing branding
Bird unified the company’s different brands with a future-facing dynamic spirit. Three new vectors of growth came into being. First, it was investments to craft investment solutions across the global market. Secondly, the Advisers were to support United Kingdom financial advisers and wealth managers with innovative platform technology. Thirdly, it was the personal vector to help individuals in the United Kingdom save and invest.
Introduction of exchange-traded funds
Stephen introduced Exchange-traded funds (ETF) to reverse the company’s fortunes. An exchange-traded fund is a robot fund that invests in shares. The computer-run funds are cheaper than traditional funds, and the computer follows investment instructions in a particular group, such as shares, bonds, and gold.
Stephen Bird also saw another opportunity to invest by offering access to simple investments online, financial tax advice, pensions, and other complex issues.in 2021 Aberdeen acquired Finimize, a financial insights app, and in 2021, bought the interactive investor, which empowered individuals throughout their financial journeys, thereby transforming Aberdeen.