Stephen Bird to exit Abrdn after four years as group CEO
UK asset management firm Abrdn has announced that its group CEO Stephen Bird is stepping down after four years in the role.
Stephen Bird to step down as Abrdn group CEO (Image: LinkedIn)
“Following the significant strategic repositioning of the company, the board and group CEO, Stephen Bird, have together agreed that it is the right time for Stephen to hand over the reins to the team he has assembled over the last four years,” its latest statement reads.
Jason Windsor, who joined the firm in October last year as group CFO, is to step in as interim group CEO while a formal search process for a permanent replacement commences.
Abrdn says Bird will work alongside Windsor until 30 June “to ensure a smooth handover”, after which time he will be placed on garden leave from 1 July, with his employment due to officially end on 31 December.
First taking up the position back in 2020, Bird says it was a privilege to lead the firm through what he describes as “an intensely challenging time in our industry”.
In January this year, the company implemented a new “transformation programme” in a bid to streamline its operations and bring down costs, with Bird saying at the time that the move seeks to “restore our core investments business to a more acceptable level of profitability”.
He also successfully led the firm’s £1.49 billion takeover of subscription-based investment platform Interactive Investor back in December 2021.
“I leave the company well positioned, having embedded greater diversification of revenues, retained a strong capital position and, most importantly, developed a refreshed leadership team which is ready and eager to take on the challenge of realising Abrdn’s full potential,” comments Bird.
