Investment manager and Financial Planning group Abrdn has reported net inflows of £800m for the first half of the year, a major turnaround from £5.2bn of net outflows posted in the first six months of 2023.

Assets under management and administration (AUMA) rose 2% to £505.9bn from £494.9bn, which Abrdn said was down to “positive market movements and flows.”

Pre-tax profits for the period came in at £187m, reversing the £169m loss it posted in the same period last year.

A major cost-cutting exercise is helping reverse its struggles which saw the business post a pre-tax loss of £6m last year, and a £546m loss the previous year.

However, net operating revenue was 7% lower at £667m, down from £721m, which "reflected the impact of outflows and the expected lower margins in investments as well as the net impact of corporate actions," the company said. It added that the "reduction was partly offset by increase in adviser revenue."

Jason Windsor, interim chief executive, said: "In the first half of the year we have made an encouraging start as we become more efficient, and we enhance our propositions to lay the foundations for growth.”

The company launched a search for a new chief in May after previous boss Stephen Bird decided to step down after four years at the helm.

Mr Windsor, who is currently the chief financial officer, has been interim CEO while the formal search process continues, receiving a salary supplement of £200,000, pro-rata for the duration of the interim period.

He said Abrdn is “firmly on track to realise at least £150m of annualised cost savings by the end of 2025.”

Its adviser business posted a 16% hike in net operating revenue at £119m up from £103m in 2023, which reflected “a £13m benefit of a revised distribution arrangement for services provided by Abrdn to Phoenix in respect of the Wrap SIPP”, the firm said.

The adviser business posted net outflows of £2bn for the six months, up from £0.6bn in the previous year. The firm said the improved figures reflected “elevated redemptions in the period, owing to the continued impact of the higher cost of living, further IFA consolidation and inflation beating cash saving options in the market.”

The firm announced an interim dividend of 7.3p per share, unchanged from the previous year.

The company has struggled in recent years following its £11bn merger with Standard Life in 2017. The firm sold off Standard Life in 2021 and renamed itself Abrdn in a much-mocked rebrand.