Shareholders rebel over £11m bonus pay-out at Aberdeen

Aberdeen Asset Management suffered embarrassment yesterday when a shareholder rebellion saw more than 15 per cent of votes at the AGM cast against a bumper pay-out, including £11 million in bonuses, to the fund manager’s bosses.

The opposition to the remuneration report, including £4m in cash and shares for chief executive Martin Gilbert, came as AAM said revealed that investors pulled out a net £2.8 billion of capital in the three months to December.

This accelerated a net £1.7bn of withdrawals in the previous quarter. However, AAM said total assets under management edged up 2 per cent over the latest three‑month period to £173.9bn, helped by a mix of market gains, performance and currency moves. Gilbert said: “Our investment performance is robust in the face of ongoing macroeconomic instability.”

In contrast, St James’s Place, majority-owned by Lloyds Banking Group, disclosed that the net inflow of funds during 2011 was £3.3bn, increasing funds under management 6 per cent to £28.5bn.

St James’s chief executive David Bellamy partly attributed the good performance to most of the group’s clients being in their 50s, and less likely to panic amid market turbulence.

Bellamy said: “We’ve been in these places before. This (recession) is a little bit longer, a little bit deeper, but there’s probably a little bit more wisdom in our client bank than might otherwise be the case.”

St James’s, which outsources management of its investment portfolio, also said yesterday it planned to add three funds to its range next month. Pimco will run a multi-asset fund, Invesco a global equity fund, while Blackrock will manage an index-linked gilt fund focused on a defensive investment portfolio.