Abrdn Share Discussion Threads

[mcunliffe1] 09/10/2022 11:18

I also :-)
But, I appreciate the differing view to mine.
Perhaps if Bird explained to the shareholders a little more it would help.

Re. the refusal to pay bonuses; I preseume that refusal is a consequence of targets not being met in which case there can be no complaints.

Re. II; if that's such a good investment why doesn't abrdn make more noise about it? There's only a small reference to abrdn on the ii website.

[spud] 09/10/2022 11:08

I thought that too but he has commented on other shares as well. spud

[lippy4] 09/10/2022 11:00

abirdinthehand

your having a laugh with a name like that,sure you are not the man himself???

[abirdinthehand] 09/10/2022 10:39

There was another fairly pointless article in the Sunday Telegraph last weekend. Seems like the media have it in for Bird and are happy to focus on all the negatives to push an agenda.

Reading the ST article, the headline is much more dramatic than any of the supporting content.

Seems like much of the unhappiness with Bird stems from his refusal to pay senior management bonuses. He presumably takes the view that bonuses are paid to reward performance not to supplement already inflated salaries

Another concern of management seems to be bird’s insistence that the company look to cut costs; primarily through restructuring the investment side (merging funds etc) and cutting staff numbers. Management seem to think he is being too aggressive in his approach but properly done it makes good sense to me as a shareholder.

The article also says he paid too much for ii but that looks like a good investment to me. It looks like it could bring in about 70m profit a year. - there are a lot fintech companies out there which are loss making and have much higher valuations.

The article also notes the large investment outflows but fails to mention that 70bn was a one off from Lloyds conflict of interest.

The money laundering/ frozen accounts scare is just 23 locked accounts in the Luxembourg subsidiary while they look to fill some gaps in the records collected about the account holders. Presumably to ensure the funds are not owned by any sanctioned individuals.

For now, I am happy for Bird to stick with it. Share buy backs also make good sense at these prices. If divided policy stays the same, then every share bought back is around 15 pence more for the rest of us.

Like he says, he is dealing with a difficult situation but seems focused on what needs doing. My experience of change it that it’s hard to achieve without upsetting some along the way.

I hope he’s put an end to all this working from home nonsense.

[lippy4] 09/10/2022 10:25

how come they are not paid by results and i mean good results??

[skinny] 09/10/2022 10:09

Spud - you can register and get a month free access - just remember to cancel!

[mcunliffe1] 09/10/2022 09:59

Based upon the very informative and sensible posts above (1351 - 1355) I'd advocate abrdn continue to buy more of their own shares (but not mine) and hence I'll get a bigger payout when they are taken over / broken-up.

My own modest shareholding of 1545 originated when they demutualised - on their second attempt. The first attempt wasn't voted through which was a great pity as I'd really pushed Std Life to disclose what they believed to be the value of my many With Profit pensions and endowments I held at that time. When they ultimately de-m. that value was a fraction of the initial quote.......but still considerably higher than my valuation today of £2043.

I've been on the bad end of several bad decisions made by this outfit over the years and it all points to the management of the day.

Management have been the beneficiaries for the past 15+ years in my opinion. Think Sandy Crombie, Keith Skeoch and now Bird etc.

[spud] 09/10/2022 09:58

It's all behind a paywall so many (myself included) can't see. But I get the gist. Sounds like he's skippering an extremely unhappy ship. Surprised he's lasted this long tbh.spud

[skinny] 09/10/2022 09:17

I agree Spud and it seems the knives are out, there was also this article in yesterday's Times :-



Last week, David McCann, an analyst at Numis, predicted that a break-up of Abrdn could unlock almost £5.7 billion of value. He said “a more radical strategy is needed to turn the group around and to maximise value”, adding that Abrdn was “worth more dead than alive”.

[drectly] 09/10/2022 07:54

I'm not sure Bird will continue his Times sub, one of the most negative articles I have ever seen on a CEO. Most seems justified regards company performance, regards personal stuff, no smoke etc. The main point made is, shareholder interest is now served by break up and / or new broom and appropriate management. I bought a chunk as part of a pension pot for income, well down, so a sort-out would be welcome.

[unastubbs] 09/10/2022 06:10

huge double spread Oliver Shah piece in the ST this morning. Far too big to upload screenshots of. He obviously has contacts within the firm and he is doing his best to paint a picture of extreme unhappiness and dissatisfaction with Bird. There was a similar hatchet job by him in the same organ about a month ago. A couple of quotes from analysts one of which had a breakup value of abrdn as being £5.7B versus market cap on Friday of £2.82B. that would = £2.69 share price. Another quote was that the company is just begging for an activist investor to join the board. Something has to happen.

Right??

[spud] 08/10/2022 09:36

Sounds as if some of the money earmarked for the dividend has been wasted on the ridiculous buyback I’m afraid.

spud

[mcunliffe1] 08/10/2022 09:27

Rumours of a possible dividend cut have been seen in a newspaper.

[jubberjim] 07/10/2022 16:43

Looking at what has been happening with regard to how this company is and has been run I think I have done Mr Bird a bit of a disservice

By my reckoning with the divestment ? Of the insurance operations this is beginning to turn itself into an investment vehicle a la Mng as such it should not be such a bad investment if it can actually get its act together and invest in decent enterprises

Have now got this on watch to buy but holding off for now due to general market turmoil

Jdw having a storming day I'm off to celebrate have a good weekend all

[squintyflinty1] 07/10/2022 16:31

There is zero strength in the whole market.

[pander45] 07/10/2022 15:12

Something badly wrong here. Zero strength.

[wllmherk] 06/10/2022 13:27

totally agree with you both,

wllm :)

[fenners66] 06/10/2022 08:46

MCunliffe1 - have been saying the same about investment companies running out of ideas of what to invest in , for years.
Not bright enough to see the irony of their own decisions...

[mcunliffe1] 06/10/2022 08:34

wllmherk: "I'd rather they use the cash to invest in something as there has to be opportunities out there with all the volatility."

I believe Bird has failed to realise that abrdn is in fact an investment company.

Given the share buy-back is a tacit acceptance that abrdn is a 'good investment' and further, given that the share price has fallen by 41% over the past 12 months and given that, say, L&G's has fallen 18% (without a buy-back) wouldn't Bird have been better advised to buy L&G shares?

With this in mind might such thoughts have affected the willingness of intelligent people to invest elsewhere than abrdn?

Could that explain (on part) the funds under management reduction?

spud: nice analogy with the wee bairn.

[spud] 06/10/2022 08:28

Unfortunately it's looking increasingly like that. My bet is that they'll cancel the BBs at £150m, pay a Special and then reduce the dividend to 10p pa.spud

[wllmherk] 06/10/2022 08:19

I'd rather they use the cash to invest in something as there has to be opportunities out there with all the volatility. Failing that I wouldn't complain if they use the surplus cash to underpin the dividend as it's primarily for income I'm here. If they waste millions on buybacks then cut the dividend I will sell my holding and take the loss.

wllm :)