Keith Skeoch is to step down from the board of Standard Life Aberdeen after five years as group chief executive and fourteen years as a director.

After a handover period he will be replaced by Stephen Bird.

The fund manager expects the transition to Mr Bird’s leadership to take place by the end of the third quarter.

Until November last year Mr Bird was CEO of Global Consumer Banking at Citigroup. Prior to that he was chief executive for Citigroup’s Asia Pacific business lines. He was at Citigroup for 21 years with roles in banking, operations and technology.

Mr Skeoch became sole CEO of Standard Life Aberdeen last year after Martin Gilbert stepped down as co-chief executive of the merged group. 

Last year was a tough one for the fund management giant. The group reported adjusted pre-tax profit for 2019 of £584m, down 10% due mainly to lower revenues. Assets under management and administration fell from £608bn to £551.5bn.

Mr Skeoch will serve out the remainder of his contract as non-executive chairman of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Research Institute.

Sir Douglas Flint, chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen said: "The transition from Keith Skeoch was always going to be a challenge to deliver, given the incredible scale and range of his contributions to the success of the company over many years. I am however extremely pleased to say we have found a truly worthy successor."

The Investment Association appointed Mr Skeoch as chair of their board on 1 May this year, replacing Peter Harrison, group chief executive of Schroders.