Aberdeen

CHINA

The "brutal" sell-off which has hit emerging markets for six since the start of the year is now at an end, Aberdeen CEO Martin Gilbert has said, with outflows from the group's fund range slowing.

Aberdeen has reported £8.8bn in net outflows for the six months to 31 March 2014 despite redemptions slowing in the final month of the period.

Aberdeen Asset Management completed the acquisition of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) last night, paying £550m for the business.

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Scottish Widows Investment Partnership's chief executive Dean Buckley is to leave as Aberdeen Asset Management realigns its investment division following its takeover of the Scottish group.

Multi-managers are continuing to turn to commercial property as they seek to combine capital growth with new income streams.

Some of the UK's biggest wealth managers are turning positive on emerging markets as months of poor performance and outflows begin to reverse.

The UK has seen a sharp drop in new fund launches at the start of 2014, attributed to administration backlogs, pricing overhauls and Neil Woodford's forthcoming new venture.

Aberdeen is to implement "significant" additional cost savings after emerging market woes saw it suffer £3.9bn in net outflows for the first two months of 2014.