Aberdeen Asset Management has reported a slight increase in profit despite seeing assets under management fall by 12.5 per cent.
In its full year results to the end of September, the fund house saw AUM slide from £324.4bn in 2014 to £283.7bn.
Net outflows hit £33.9bn over the year, up from the £20.4bn of net outflows seen in the year earlier.
However, the firm did see £42.5bn of gross inflows into its funds.
The firm’s profit stayed on track and it also increased its dividend. Profit before tax was £491.6m compared to £490.3 in 2014. Revenue at the firm marginally rose by 4.6 per cent to £1.17bn.
Operating costs also rose which Aberdeen said was associated with the now completed SWIP integration.
The firm continued to blame investor sentiment on Asian equities for the increase in outflows, alongside expected withdrawals from closed-life books managed for insurers and a reduced mandate from a sovereign wealth fund.
However, Aberdeen said it was continuing its diversification away from Asia and emerging markets, name-checking the four acquisitions completed in the year adding US presence and alternatives capabilities.
Chief executive Martin Gilbert said: “The cyclical correction in Asian and emerging markets and resulting negative investor sentiment has, as expected, led to further flows from our equities business.
“While we believe the current weakness may have some way to run, the long term fundamental attractions of investing in these high growth economies remain compelling for patient investors.
“We continue to rebalance and diversify the business, to focus on managing our costs and to generate cash and this has helped to mitigate the impact of the outflows we’ve seen.”
