Newly promoted Aberdeen tops FTSE after assets jump

Aberdeen Asset Management led the FTSE 100 leader board in afternoon trading after a trading update showed assets under management had soared by over 5% in two months.

By early afternoon shares in the asset manager, which announced this morning it had seen assets rocket by more than £10bn in the last few months, were up 9.9p or 4% at 259.8p. Aberdeen, which was promoted to the FTSE 100 index this month, led the blue chips, with the wider market up 40 points at 5,894. Earlier today the group - which boasts top performing managers including Hugh Young (pictured) - said AUM at the end of February had reached £184.4bn, up from the £173.9bn seen at the end of December. The figure is close to the £185.8bn the group reported prior to the market sell-off...