ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND-Investment manager Aberdeen Asset Management, after 'changing the guard' at the head of its property division, will deepen its European funds and expand in Asia and US post-crisis. It has no plans to sell German fund business Degi, says incoming head of property Andrew Smith. He succeeds Rickard Backlund who is stepping down to take an advisory role.

Smith, appointed in spring, also says that investment patterns are changing: After the global crisis, UK and US institutions focused on home markets but now are once again looking at cross-border diversification. The group has re-organised real estate activities, playing down its Aberdeen Property Investors brand and integrating more closely into the group. In real estate it manages around $31.6 billion in assets across many markets, with a traditionally strong position in Nordics and UK, plus the large Degi business bought from Allianz in 2008.

“The property team has been part of a wider Aberdeen Asset Management for some time and one of the things we want to do is to really benefit from being part of a wider multi-asset business,” says Smith. His history with Aberdeen has been curious. He joined in 2002 as head of investment strategy and was part of a package sold to investment manager Arlington – taken over soon afterward by Goodman. Aberdeen repurchased the business last year after the Australian manager ran into problems. “I've joined the company twice but I didn't actually leave in the meantime!” he says.