Investment provider Abdrn is facing a fresh wave of scorn after its CIO claimed it was the victim of “corporate bullying” after it scrapped vowels from its name in a heavily-mocked rebrand.

The firm changed its name from Standard Life Aberdeen in 2021 after paying agency Wolff Olins to come up with its new identity.

Peter Branner, chief investment officer at Abrdn, hit out at the criticism, He told investment trade magazine Financial News: “I understand that corporate bullying to some extent is part of the game with the press, even though it’s a little childish to keep hammering the missing vowels in our name.

“Would you do that with an individual? How would you look at a person who makes fun of your name day in, day out? It’s probably not ethical to do it.

“But apparently with companies it is different.”

The company, which had been formed by a £3.8bn merger in 2017, launched the rebrand four years later after selling its Standard Life brand name to Phoenix Group, as it exited the UK and European life insurance market.

Stephen Bird, chief executive of Abrdn, defended the change at the time and said clients had “fully embraced” the move. However, it prompted a barrage of criticism and laughter, with journalists and analysts joking the company was “disemvowelled” and had “irritable vowel syndrome”.

The Financial Times quoted Colin Angus, founder of 90s techno band The Shamen, whose 1992 number one Ebeneezer Goode, featured an “E's are good” chorus. Mr Angus told the paper: “Ditch Standard Life and drop three E’s, indeed a most commendable notion.”

Mr Branner’s comments drew fresh criticism with Financial News joking that the business should “gt ovr it”, while the City AM newspaper mentioned the mockery on its front page, with an “aplgy” to the business, adding: “Sry we kp tkng the pss ot of yr mssng vwls.”

Darren Cooke, Chartered Financial Planner at East Midlands-based Red Circle Financial Planning, said Abrdn deserved all the criticism levelled at it.

He told Financial Planning Today: “If you don't want people making fun of you, don't give your company a stupid name. Somebody won the annual ‘craziest thing we can get away with’ award for this one.”

Ben Yearsley, director at Bristol-based investment consultancy Fairview Investing, told Financial Planning Today that the move may actually have benefited the business.

He said: “In a bizarre way the name change was quite successful. The amount of coverage they got was probably beyond their wildest dreams.”

However, he pointed out that no amount of publicity, good or bad, could hide the firm’s problems. He said: “The name is irrelevant. It’s all about the funds, and the name change didn't hide the dysfunctional nature of the combined business.”

Design agency Wolff Olins, which was behind the Abrdn debacle, has a long-established reputation for innovative rebrand ideas. In 2002 the firm persuaded PwC Consulting to change its name to Monday. The move also generated considerable ridicule in the press and among clients and staff of the firm and led to a swift U-turn, with the name being quickly dropped.