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8 January 2010 

ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT PLC

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

3 MONTHS TO 31 DECEMBER 2009

Highlights

●	Assets under management totalled £144.1 billion at 31 December 2009
●	£9.6 billion of gross new business won in the quarter (31 December 2008: £2.6 billion)
●	£3.1 billion of mandates awarded but not funded at 31 December 2009
●	Net inflows of £3.4 billion into equities (31 December 2008: £0.1 billion)
●	Net outflows from low margin fixed income and money market business
●	Balance sheet strengthened further, gearing reduced to below 12%

Martin Gilbert, Chief Executive of Aberdeen, commented: "This has been another successful quarter for Aberdeen. We have continued to improve the mix of our business with strong inflows into our higher margin equities funds and have significantly strengthened our balance sheet thanks to strong cash flow and our recent convertible bond issue.

"The businesses acquired from Credit Suisse mid year are now fully integrated into the group and are delivering on their considerable potential. Our separate announcement today of the acquisition of certain assets from RBS Asset Management continues the development of the group and positions us well for the rest of 2010." 

The first quarter of our new financial year has seen global markets continue in the more settled vein which emerged from mid-2009. Our new business flows continue to build momentum, with the majority of flows being into our higher margin equity products and we are trading ahead of budget. 

Assets under management ("AuM") of £144.1 billion at 31 December 2009 were 1.4% lower than at 30 September 2009.The principal changes in AuM during the quarter are shown in the following table.

	Equities,  £bn	Fixed income £bn	Multi-Asset £bn	Money market £bn	Property  £bn	Total £bn
AuM at 30 September 2009	50.7	51.7	7.7	13.5	22.6	146.2
Net new business flows for the quarter	3.4	(3.4)	-	(2.9)	0.3	(2.6)
Corporate acquisitions & disposals	(0.9)	-	0.2	-	-	(0.7)
Market appreciation, performance & FX	2.8	(0.5)	0.1	-	(1.2)	1.2
AuM at 31 December 2009	56.0	47.8	8.0	10.6	21.7	144.1

Gross new business wins for the quarter totalled £9.6 billion, compared to £2.6 billion for the same quarter last year, with a further £3.1 billion of new mandates which had been awarded but not funded at 31 December 2009 (and therefore not included in AuM at that date).  Redemptions for the quarter of £12.2 billion were largely from the lower margin fixed income and money market products, including a large money market mandate which the client decided to self-manage. The net outcome for the quarter was a net outflow of £2.6 billion (31 December 2008: £4.3 billion net outflow). Whilst the overall effect of net flows is negative in AuM terms, the fee mix has been advantageous, in that the blended fee rate on continued, strong, net levels of equity inflows has been considerably higher than on the net outflows from fixed interest and money market; the impact on annualised revenues has therefore been positive. Analysis of these flows is provided in the tables at the end of this statement.

Our key equity disciplines, especially global equities, global emerging markets, Asia Pacific and US equities, have continued to perform consistently ahead of their respective benchmarks. Performance across our fixed income strategies has rebounded very strongly in 2009 and these products are again ahead of benchmark over a one year period. In property, investor sentiment has improved significantly in recent months, particularly in the UK, where the market rebound has contributed to healthy performance in our portfolios. Elsewhere in Europe, the recovery has so far been more subdued but values are now generally stabilising or improving.

Our distribution efforts continue to make progress on a number of fronts. The marketing, under our business alliance with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corporation ("MUTB"), of our global emerging markets product has been well received in the Japanese institutional market and we are now progressing with the promotion of our global equity and global emerging market debt products into that market. We have made an encouraging start to our relationship with the Credit Suisse Private Banking division and look forward to continuing to build this relationship, and our increased presence in Continental Europe following the Credit Suisse acquisition is beginning to bear fruit. We continue to see solid demand for our capabilities from investors elsewhere in the world. 

The quarter to 31 December 2009 has seen strong operating cashflow and the completion of the sale of two management contracts to Premier Asset Management Group Limited has brought in cash proceeds of £23 million. This cashflow, together with the net proceeds of the £90 million issue of 3.5% Convertible Bonds 2014 completed on 17 December 2009, have been used to fully repay the amounts drawn under the Group's €50 million revolving credit facility and to repay £80 million of the separate £150 million facility. As a result, the Group's balance sheet has been strengthened further, with net gearing reduced to below 12% (30 September 2009: 17.2%) and maturity of the remaining debt increased to an average of 4.4 years.

Whilst it remains possible that economic and market recovery will continue to encounter some difficulty in the short term, we remain confident that we have the financial strength and a strong and diversified product and client base from which to continue the Group's profitable growth.  

For further information please contact:

Aberdeen Asset Management PLC	+ 44 (0) 20 7463 6000
Martin Gilbert
Bill Rattray
Maitland	+ 44 (0) 20 7379 5151
Neil Bennett
Charlotte Walsh

ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT AT 31 DECEMBER 2009

	31 Dec 09 £bn	30 Sep 09 £bn
Equities	56.0	50.7
Fixed income	47.8	51.7
Property	21.7	22.6
Money market	10.6	13.5
Multi asset	8.0	7.7
	144.1	146.2

OVERALL NEW BUSINESS FLOWS FOR 3 MONTHS TO 31 DECEMBER 2009

	Qtr to 31 Dec 09 £m	Qtr to 31 Dec 08 £m
Gross inflows:
Equities	5,584	1,288
Fixed income	1,650	673
Property	743	586
Money market	1,399	-
Multi asset	261	53
	9,636	2,600
Outflows:
Equities	2,155	1,247
Fixed income	5,013	5,418
Property	471	122
Money market	4,267	-
Multi asset	329	159
	12,235	6,945
Net flows:
Equities	3,429	42
Fixed income	(3,363)	(4,745)
Property	271	464
Money market	(2,868)	-
Multi asset	(68)	(106)
	(2,599)	(4,346)

NEW BUSINESS FLOWS FOR 3 MONTHS TO 31 DECEMBER 2009 - EQUITIES

	Qtr to 31 Dec 09 £m	Qtr to 31 Dec 08 £m
Gross inflows:
Asia Pacific	854	412
Global emerging markets	1,857	383
Europe	13	2
Global & EAFE	2,479	318
Specialist	142	43
UK	18	24
US	220	106
	5,584	1,288
Outflows:
Asia Pacific	1,039	549
Global emerging markets	602	223
Europe	50	19
Global & EAFE	204	78
Specialist	92	141
UK	40	51
US	127	187
	2,155	1,248
Net flows:
Asia Pacific	(185)	(137)
Global emerging markets	1,255	160
Europe	(37)	(17)
Global & EAFE	2,275	240
Specialist	50	(98)
UK	(22)	(27)
US	93	(81)
	3,429	40

NEW BUSINESS FLOWS FOR 3 MONTHS TO 31 DECEMBER 2009 - FIXED INCOME

	Qtr to 31 Dec 09 £m	Qtr to 31 Dec 08 £m
Gross inflows:
Asia Pacific	836	107
Convertibles	18	-
Currency overlay	-	-
Emerging markets	67	23
Europe	215	106
Global	79	15
High yield	103	25
UK	216	168
US	116	229
	1,650	673
Outflows:
Asia Pacific	844	797
Convertibles	196	-
Currency overlay	22	-
Emerging markets	110	93
Europe	361	550
Global	998	855
High yield	89	37
UK	1,671	1,256
US	723	1,829
	5,013	5,417
Net flows:
Asia Pacific	(8)	(690)
Convertibles	(178)	-
Curency overlay	(22)	-
Emerging markets	(43)	(70)
Europe	(146)	(444)
Global	(919)	(840)
High yield	14	(12)
UK	(1,455)	(1,088)
US	(607)	(1,600)
	(3,363)	(4,744)

Note: figures in the above tables may appear not to add due to rounding differences

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