Sir Douglas Flint to be next Standard Life Aberdeen chairman

Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) has announced that former HSBC chairman Sir Douglas Flint will be appointed as chairman and a non-executive director as of this Thursday.

Flint says he looks forward to shaping SLA's future success. Picture: contributed.

The Scottish-born executive is to succeed Sir Gerry Grimstone on 1 January, when the latter will stand down from the board. Grimstone is also chairman of Barclays, where he has been a member of the board since 2016, while Flint’s other roles include chairing intellectual property commercialisation company IP Group.

Simon Troughton and Melanie Gee, co-chairs of the appointments committee, said: “We undertook a rigorous and comprehensive international search to identify Sir Gerry’s successor and we are very pleased that Sir Douglas will join the board and become its chairman.

“His passion for our company, his strong track record as chairman and his international experience make him an ideal candidate to lead the board as we continue to build our global investment business”.

The board expressed its thanks to Grimstone for his “years of outstanding service and dedication” to both Standard Life, and SLA that was created by an £11 billion merger with Aberdeen Asset Management.

The board added: “Sir Gerry has been a director since 2003, and has steered the business through periods of significant challenge and change. His wise counsel and chairmanship has played a pivotal role in our success over this period and he will leave a long-lasting and very positive impact on our business. We wish him all the very best for the future”.

Grimstone said Flint will make an “excellent” chairman. “I have had the enormous privilege of serving this company for over 15 years, and been its chairman for over 11 years. It is a fine company with the most brilliant employees all committed to serving our customers and clients. They all have my very best wishes for the future.”

Flint added: “I’m delighted to have been asked to lead the board of [SLA] at this important time in its development. I look forward to working with my fellow directors and the management team over the coming months and years to continue to shape its future success.”