Standard Life Aberdeen has appointed Keith Skeoch as its sole chief executive officer in a strategic move which sees co-CEO Martin Gilbert become vice chairman of the company.
In a statement, the company said the board had ‘unanimously approved the dissolution of its current co-Chief Executive structure’ to enable Gilbert to turn his attention to 'critically important client facing responsibilities’.
Gilbert becomes vice-chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen and chairman of Aberdeen Standard Investments, while retaining his seat on the company’s board as an executive director.
‘In this role, Martin will be able to focus solely on our strategic relationships with key clients, winning new business and realising the potential from our global network and product capabilities,’ the company said.
Gilbert and Skeoch (pictured) have shared the CEO role since the merger in 2017 of Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life to create a £551 bn (€643.6 bn) investment services giant.
Commenting on the changes, chairman Sir Douglas Flint said: ‘A great deal has been achieved by both Martin and Keith to drive the business forward, and leave us well-placed for the future. The changes that we have announced today have the unanimous backing of the Board. The new structure will strengthen our client focus, simplify reporting lines and facilitate robust execution of the next stages of our transition and transformation programmes.’
