Global fund manager abrdn is combining its UK and European equity teams as part of a "strategic decision" to "evolve" its approach.
The move will see Ben Ritchie, previously head of European equities lead the 20-person team, while Andrew Millington, previously head of UK equities will take on a new role as head of research & investment process, equities.
Ritchie (pictured) joined the firm in 2002 and brings "deep investment and leadership experience" and his appointment "delivers continuity and stability," a spokesperson from the firm said.
The spokesperson added that refining the structure of the business delivers three benefits: a focus on "existing strengths in sustainable, income, value and thematic investing"; a "greater breadth" of idea generation; and more targeted ESG engagement.
According to Bloomberg, the move will lead to a number of redundancies. In the annual report released in March this year, the firm said that it was looking to "reshape" its cost base through, among other things, lower staff numbers.
Overall staff and other related costs stood at £643m for the year.
Share buyback
Yesterday (6 July) abrdn announced it was undertaking a £300m share buyback programme.
The first phase of the programme will see £150m worth of shares taken back from investors, which will be overseen by Goldman Sachs.
The repurchase started 6 July and will end no later than 30 December.
The share price of the firm rose on the news, before declining again throughout the day and was up 0.3% by close of play yesterday.
