Ex-HSBC chair tipped to lead Standard Life Aberdeen
The ex-chair of HSBC is in the running to become board leader at the £610bn fund manager Standard Life Aberdeen, the Sunday Times reported.
Sir Douglas Flint, who left HSBC in September last year after 22 years at the firm, is among two or three candidates under consideration to replace Sir Gerry Grimstone.
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Whoever is selected is expected to replace Grimstone early next year, and will head a company facing a number of challenges. Since the mega-merger between Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management last year that birthed Standard Life Aberdeen, the asset manager has suffered from substantial outflows.
It is currently moving ahead with a sizeable shareholder buyback plans, spending million on returning funds to its shareholders.
Bloomberg reported today that it was in talks with Saudi Arabia about launching one or more investment vehicles in the Gulf kingdom, which would be seeded by its sovereign wealth fund. Citing sources, the website reported that Standard Life Aberdeen was looking at opening an office in Riyadh as part of the proposals.
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Flint trained as an accountant at KPMG before joining the banking giant. Since leaving, he has worked as the Treasury’s special envoy for the Belt and Road initiative in China.
He chairs the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Just Finance Foundation and is a director at the Centre for Policy Studies think tank. He sits on the global advisory council of Motive Partners, a platform for fintech investment.
Standard Life Aberdeen did not reply to a request for comment.