Quality better than quantity
THE real story behind Aberdeen’s improving fortunes is not just that it is running more money in its funds, but that it is running better money too. Most of the new inflows are going into high-margin products such as its emerging markets equities business, which saw net inflows of £2.74bn in the five months to the end of February.
The Asia Pacific equities business has also been attracting investors, pulling in a net £408m over the same period, as have global equities, which attracted £732m of net money. Typically, these funds boast margins of between 60 and 90 basis points.
The same can’t be said for the areas where Aberdeen is experiencing net outflows, namely its fixed-income business, which experienced an overall net outflow of £2.4bn. That suits Aberdeen down to the ground, as these funds typically have lower margins of between 20 and 30 basis points. In a choice over quantity and quality, quality triumphs again.