Aberdeen Asset Management have announced that James Laing is replacing Chou Chong as Head of UK & European Equities, the team responsible for their suite of European funds. Laing has been with Aberdeen since 2000, initially working in the private client division and on several UK investment trusts before becoming an investment manager in the Pan European Equity team. Before joining Aberdeen he worked at Prime International Trading (UK) Ltd as an options trader and later at Tilney Investment Management.
Chou Chong is relocating to Singapore for personal reasons and will be rejoining Hugh Young’s Asian Equities team. Chong originally joined Aberdeen’s Singapore office in 1994 as a graduate trainee but had been in charge of the Pan European desk since 2002.
Recommendation
None of these funds are currently rated by Bestinvest and performance has been mediocre under Chong’s leadership. Whilst Aberdeen emphasise that theirs is a team based approach, we will be monitoring these funds for signs of a revival in their fortunes following Laing’s appointment.