The bulk of the outflows, it said, were “largely low margin and anticipated”, though a further £2.4bn is scheduled to be withdrawn from lower-margin portfolios in during the first quarter of this year.
Assets under management totalled £302.7bn, down from £312.1bn for the third quarter of 2016.
£2.2bn of the reduction has been blamed on a rationalisation of the group’s US fixed income business – withdrawing from US core mandates to focus on credit and total return bond strategies.
“Investor sentiment had been improving steadily in the early part of the quarter, but stalled following the US presidential election result with investors putting asset allocation decisions on hold,” said Aberdeen chief executive Martin Gilbert.
“Encouragingly, despite the market volatility our equity strategies produced strong returns for the year.”
“While growing interest in a number of our strategies is likely to continue to be masked, in the short-term, by significant withdrawals by a small number of clients, I am encouraged by the progress being made.
“Overall Aberdeen remains in good shape, we have a strong balance sheet, a global client base and wide range of capabilities to meet the needs of investors.”
