Abrdn has agreed to buy AI-powered wealth manager Exo Investing for an undisclosed sum as the financial services provider and investment manager plans to offer digital wealth management services via an app.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth qaurter.

Exo Investing, being sold by Nucoro, offers an ETF-based wealth management proposition driven by artificial intelligence and Abrdn said it believes it will help them “develop an industry-leading technology solution for investors”.

Investors using Exo Investing are able to choose between a customised, themed or fully automated approach.

The AI-powered offering will be integrated into the provider’s existing offerings in its personal business arm which includes Financial Planning, open banking insights, and risk-rated savings.

Stephen Bird, CEO of Abrdn, said: “This is an exciting and significant step forward in building out our personal vector capabilities.

"Exo was the first of its kind to offer a fully automated wealth management platform, leveraging machine learning to feed into portfolio decision-making.

"There is a downward pressure on fees, changing customer expectations and increasing regulatory requirements. It is important to address these issues by providing a highly-scalable, next-generation service to investors."

The news of the acquisition broke as Abrdn released its half year results, which saw fee-based revenues climb 7% as operating profit increased by 52% year on year.

Net outflows for the investment management firm were £5.6bn for the first half with AUM flat at £532bn.

The results were the first financial results released since the announcement that Standard Life Aberdeen was to rebrand as Abrdn in April. The new name, which replaced five separate brands, is part of the financial services provider’s “reshaping”.

In its half year results, the investment manager also said it plans to rebrand its discretionary asset management and Financial Planning businesses under the Abrdn name in the second half of the year.

Mr Bird said: “We have made good progress in simplifying and focusing our business. The leadership team is now in place to drive the growth we seek through our strategic priorities. Our capital strength gives us the ability to invest in these priorities.

“We have a clarity of focus under our new brand and are better positioned to have impact at scale as a global business. We are at the beginning of the journey and we are moving at pace to build our new future.”