AAM managing to increase its profit

ABERDEEN Asset Management, the Scottish fund manager, has seen its profits rise considerably after it increased the number of assets it owns by a third.

The firm, which employs 85 of its 1441 worldwide staff at its Haymarket operations, is now managing assets worth £95.3 billion.

In the year to September 30 it saw pre-tax profit before exceptional items and amortisation go up by 18 per cent to £94.3 million.

In the full year it netted a record amount of new business, with wins worth £8.7bn, as well as a further £3.1bn awarded but not funded at the end of the year.

Martin Gilbert, the group's chief executive, said: "Aberdeen has had another successful year.

"We have continued to deliver strong organic growth and have attracted record fund inflows, from an increasingly international and diversified client base.

"Aberdeen now offers a strong service worldwide within its three core competencies of equities, fixed income and property."

But he warned that with conditions in the world's financial markets becoming more volatile, AAM cannot expect to continue to see the "relatively benign" investment climate continue.