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Football-mad boss knows Aberdeen funds can’t win new fans all the time
“We have got to do it all over again – and that is always very difficult”, Martin Gilbert said yesterday, as he unveiled soaring profits for Aberdeen Asset Management. Cash flowed into its higher-margin areas, with demand growing for its emerging market funds.
If he sounded like a footballer, repeating the mantra that it’s always harder to retain a title than win it initially, then it’s no surprise. Gilbert is a lifelong fan of Aberdeen FC and he faces a major challenge in repeating the fund’s 2011 performance, as he nearly admitted when he said: “We are always dependent on markets”.
Analysts praised the rise in operating margin, however, up to 39.5 per cent from 34.8 per cent.