ABERDEEN Asset Management veteran Hugh Little is to take early retirement from the investment house, after playing a key role in huge acquisitions including the purchase of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership from Lloyds Banking Group.
Mr Little, who is 58 and is a former director of Aberdeen Football Club, is planning to spend some of his time on non-executive roles after stepping down at the end of June.
Aberdeen Asset Management (Aberdeen) noted that Mr Little had joined the business from the corporate finance division of accountancy firm Ernst & Young in 1987 as the investment house's ninth employee.
After joining, he worked alongside Aberdeen chief executive Martin Gilbert on mergers and acquisitions.
The investment house noted that, at this time, it had less than £100 million of assets under management. Aberdeen now manages assets totalling £330 billion.
In 1990, Mr Little moved into the private equity division at Aberdeen and led this part of the business for the next 16 years.
Some of the private companies to which Aberdeen provided early-stage funding during Mr Little's time at the helm of this division included transport operator FirstGroup and oil services company Wood Group, both of which are based in the Granite City and went on, like the investment house itself, to become FTSE-100 companies.
Aberdeen remains in the FTSE-100, although FirstGroup and Wood Group, having spent spells in the prestigious top flight, are not in the index of leading shares at the moment.
The investment house noted that Mr Little had, in 2006, reverted to his original role as head of acquisitions and "project-managed the group's prolific mergers and acquisition activity".
It noted this had included the acquisition of Edinburgh-based Scottish Widows Investment Partnership in 2014. This major deal added more than £130bn to Aberdeen's assets under management.
Aberdeen noted the SWIP purchase had also strengthened its fixed-income and property investment capabilities and created a "strategic alliance" with Bank of Scotland owner Lloyds.
Mr Little also led Aberdeen's 2013 acquisition of Artio Global Investors, which added $14.3bn to the funds total.
He also played a key role in the 2010 acquisition of Royal Bank of Scotland's "alternatives" fund management business, which added £17bn to Aberdeen's assets under management.
Aberdeen also highlighted Mr Little's part in the 2009 acquisition of certain asset management business from Credit Suisse, a deal that added £36bn to funds under management.
He also had a key role in the 2008 strategic and capital alliance with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, which Aberdeen noted had brought it distribution access to Japan, one of the world's largest pension markets.
Mr Little will be succeeded as head of acquisitions at Aberdeen by Glasgow-born David Boyle.
Mr Boyle joined Aberdeen in 2003 as an investment manager on the pan-European equity team, where he was part of a successful team managing UK and Continental Europe portfolios.
The investment house noted that Mr Boyle had in recent times been a member of Aberdeen's "alternatives" team, focusing on private equity. Prior to joining Aberdeen, he worked at accountancy firm Deloitte and at Andersen Business Consulting. He graduated with an MEng and MA from Magdalene College, at the University of Cambridge.
Mr Little was a director of Aberdeen Football Club for 12 years.
He was appointed recently to the board of the newly-listed property fund, Drum Income Plus REIT Plc. And Aberdeen noted Mr Little would remain as a Governor and visiting professor at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.
Mr Little said: "I've been lucky enough to have worked with some incredibly talented people at Aberdeen over these 28 years, not least of whom Martin himself, and I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to have been part of its fantastic growth story."
Looking to the future, Mr Little added: "Whilst I look forward to spending some time on the golf course and more immediately to my daughter Jenni's wedding in July, I hope also to share some of my experience with other businesses in a non-executive capacity.
"My years with Aberdeen have given me extensive exposure to global markets and to businesses large and small, and I would hope that I can continue to contribute to the development of Scottish companies who may feel that I could be of benefit."
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