Investment manager Abrdn has confirmed it is abandoning its current name in favour of restoring the missing vowels.
It comes after an ill-fated rebrand in 2021 led to widespread discussion among branding experts about the reasons for dropping the vowels and the connotations the brand carried with investors.
Things got so bad that in 2024, the chief investment officer, accused the media of “corporate bullying” over the frequency of stories criticising the company’s name.
In today’s statement accompanying the group’s annual results, Jason Windsor, chief executive officer of Aberdeen, said the decision to spell Aberdeen in the traditional way was to remove “distractions.”
He said: “We are changing our name to Aberdeen group plc. This is a pragmatic decision marketing a new phase for the organisation as we focus on delivering for our customers, people and shareholders.”
Windsor said that the company is “a group to be proud of” and underscored that it has “a promising future.”
Back in 2021, the company adopted the name “Abrdn” leading to competitors frequently referring to the company as “a burden” at industry conferences and dinners. At the time, the company said the elimination of the vowels was a better representation of a “modern, agile and digitally enabled” business.
The company’s various internal revisions over the past 12 months are starting to yield a positive effect, resulting in the company returning to profit. The group’s full year pre-tax profit totalled £251m for 2024, up from a £6m loss in 2023.
Gains from the sale of its European based private equity business and a decrease in restructuring costs were noted as contributing factors.