Interactive Investor’s marketing spend weighs on profits

The investment management group formerly known as Aberdeen Asset Management (Abrdn) has attributed lower profits at its Interactive Investor division to its increased investment in marketing.

In its half year results, published on Tuesday (6 August), Abrdn’s interim chief executive officer, Jason Windsor declared adjusted operating profits for the Interactive Investor business of £55m for the six months ending June 2024.

“The lower profit in the period reflects the sale of Abrdn Capital and the increased investment ii has been making in marketing and product development to support customer growth.”

The company has been investing considerably in its marketing for the Interactive Investor brand since its acquisition in 2022. At the end of last year, it commissioned creative agency House 337 to develop a multi-channel campaign across television, video on demand, out of home (OOH) and socials.

On Tuesday, the company said it intends to continue its commercial push with new products including a managed self-invested personal pension (Sipp) product.

“Interactive Investor will continue to launch new products in the second half of the year, including a managed SIPP, as we continue our focus on meeting the needs of a growing number of customers,” Windsor said.

“Organic growth remains the key focus, with total customers up 4% to 422kand SIPP customers up 17% since the start of the year.”

The wider Abrdn business continues through a significant transformation programme which has seen a root and branch review of all business operations. Windsor said that the coming months will see a focus on talent and culture, in particular.

“We need our people engaged and motivated, with belief and confidence in Abrdn, to realise the opportunity in front of us. We will be taking action on multiple fronts, including: embedding greater colleague empowerment and clearer responsibilities to support faster decision-making.”