Assetco chairman Martin Gilbert has been asked to leave his position on the board of two of Abrdn’s Luxembourg-based funds, as he continues to move away from the company he co-founded in 1983.
Gilbert has been a long-serving member of the Aberdeen Standard Sicav II and Aberdeen Standard Sicav III boards. However, owing to his involvement in companies that compete with Abrdn and its funds, the firm has asked him to give up his roles. It follows him stepping down from Abrdn-managed US fund boards earlier this year.
According to LinkedIn, in addition to Assetco, Gilbert is also chairman of UK fintech start-up Revolut, the Net Zero Technology Centre and Scottish Golf.
See also: Martin Gilbert exits Standard Life Aberdeen after rollercoaster ride
The Sunday Times reported yesterday that failures in the anti-money laundering process at one of Abrdn’s Luxembourg subsidiaries led to more than 20 high-profile client accounts being frozen, and there was some speculation that Gilbert’s departure was related.
However, an Abdrn spokesperson refuted those claims: “Contrary to the recent media report, Mr Gilbert was requested to step down from both Abrdn’s US and Luxembourg fund boards due to potential conflicts of interest given his involvement with businesses that compete with Abrdn and funds managed by it.”
Regarding the AML process failure, Abrdn said that it is committed to resolving what it calls an ‘historic issue relating to documentation’.
