Investment manager and Financial Planner Abrdn made a pre-tax loss of just £6m last year, a huge turnaround from the £546m loss posted the previous year.

Heavy cost cutting - still under way - aided the recovery.

Abrdn said the loss reflected adjusting items of £336m, including losses of £178m relating to the fall in share prices of its listed stakes and £152m of restructuring and corporate transaction expenses.

Net outflows in the year were £13.9bn, 30% higher than 2022’s £10.3bn.

It said its AUMA was £494.9bn, 1% down over the year with net outflows in investments and its adviser business partly offset by positive market movements and continued net inflows.

Meanwhile net operating revenue fell 4% to £1,398m, reflecting the impact of outflows and adverse markets partly mitigated by the diversification in sources of revenue, including the benefit from higher treasury income.

The firm, which rebranded from Standard Life Aberdeen in 2021, last month announced plans to axe 500 jobs as part of a £150m cost cutting programme.

Stephen Bird, chief executive officer of Abrdn, said: “Over the past three years we have reshaped the business to fit the modern investment landscape. We now have content and distribution aligned to the products and services clients need, and we are better positioned for future growth.”

He said the firm’s managers were taking action to rebuild and grow profit in its investments business.

He said: “We have sharpened our focus on improving investment performance, streamlined our fund range, reduced costs by £102m in 2023, exceeding our £75m target.”

Its Adviser business (previously called 1825) saw net outflows of £2.1bn while inflow activity reduced by 12% in 2023, reflecting muted client activity across the industry, the company said.

Adviser AUMA climbed 7% from £68.5bn to £73.5bn over the year, the firm reported. That was due to the inclusion of AUM of £2.6bn relating to its Managed Portfolio Service (MPS) business which was moved to Adviser from its Personal Wealth business. The AUMA also benefited from favourable market movements, it said.

Adjusted operating profit at Adviser climbed 37% to £118m, up from £86m the previous year.

Net operating revenue was 21% higher rising to £224m, up from £185m and supported by higher treasury income.

The company reported that in Adviser 2023 saw, the “largest and most advanced platform technology upgrade that we have undertaken. As expected, this caused some disruption to service, but by year-end service levels were returning to normal.”

Last May it announced AdviserOS, a new adviser platform which will replace the company's existing three platforms, Wrap, Elevate and Fundzone.

Today the company said it would roll out the new platform this year, claiming that it will “enhance our proposition, extend client capacity, and differentiate Abrdn from the wider market.”

Mr Bird reported that the firm had been working to optimise its business model last year. He said: “The simplification and integration of our Financial Planning and ii teams showed that we can cut cost while creating a model we can better leverage for our customers.”