Pressure growing on Aberdeen chief to quit

Pressure is mounting on Christopher Fishwick, a director of Aberdeen Asset Management, to stand down in recognition of the disastrous performance of many of the split-capital investment trusts he oversees.

Mr Fishwick, who sits on the board of 10 Aberdeen split caps, sparked outrage among investors when he did not give evidence of what has gone wrong in the sector at a recent Treasury Select Committee meeting.

Martin Gilbert, the chief executive and founder of Aberdeen, is also under pressure to take the rap for the split- cap problem.

One major institutional shareholder said: "Mr Fishwick not turning up to the Treasury Select was a big mistake. His resignation is required and probably that of Mr Gilbert as well."

Speculation is growing that the company may try to line someone up to take over in the short term, possibly before selling the business either in chunks or, if a buyer can be found, in one go. A possible replacement is thought to be Hugh Young, a director of Aberdeen and head of its Asian funds.

The company attempted to head off mounting criticism of the current board by saying it would scrap bonuses for executive directors for the year to 30 September 2002 and cut their basic pay by up to one third.

Deferred bonuses that were due to become effective yesterday for Mr Fishwick, Mr Gilbert and other directors are also to be "postponed".

Aberdeen feels it has been unfairly targeted by critics over the parlous state of split caps, which contain both shares for growth and shares for income. The funds have been hit harder than other types of equity investment because they are highly geared.

A spokesperson for Aberdeen said: "We are doing everything we can to answer the criticisms levelled at us. But we are only one of 35 split-cap fund managers. What are the rest of them doing?"

Aberdeen also gave details of its performance in the last six months, saying net new business fell 37 per cent to £1.25bn compared with last year. Its shares fell 17 per cent to 77.5p.