Warhorse Partners founder and former abrdn group head of brand Piers Currie has died.

Currie started his career in 1989 as a writer and marketing consultant for investment companies in the City.

He then joined Aberdeen Standard Investments - now abrdn - in 1995 as head of investment trust marketing. He was at the company for over 22 years in senior roles, including group head of marketing, group head of brand and special adviser to the CEO's office.

In 2017, Currie founded specialist consultancy Warhorse Partners, which provides branding and marketing services to asset management companies.

At Investment Week's 2018 Investment Company of the Year Awards, Currie was awarded the Outstanding Industry Contribution award.

Warhorse Partners said: "Piers was our dear friend and colleague, and his death is a great sorrow for all of us at Warhorse Partners. His boundless enthusiasm and vigour, and the passion and energy that he brought to everything he was involved with, will be greatly missed."

Coller Capital head of marketing Andrew Kelly, who used to work at Standard Life Aberdeen, said in a LinkedIn post Currie had "underlying health issues" but was "still a relatively young man and died too soon".

"He was a creative behemoth with a tireless work ethic," Kelly added. "Piers did so much for the asset management marketing community, both in London and New York. His network was vast and you always knew everyone had a Piers story of their own. He will leave a big hole. He was just the right amount of crazy for me and I'll miss him very much."

Annabel Brodie-Smith, communications director at the Association of Investment Companies, said: "We are very sad to hear the news about Piers.  He was a passionate advocate for the investment trust industry and such a wonderful character who was full of fun.

"He was very supportive of our promotional work at the AIC and was instrumental in improving the industry's marketing. He spoke at our events, came up with creative ideas and always volunteered to help.

"Piers had an infectious zest for life, living life to the full. He will be very much missed by us all."