Martin Gilbert

Martin Gilbert co-founded Aberdeen Asset Management in Scotland in 1983, building it from a small investment trust management firm into one of the largest global active asset managers with a specialization in emerging market equities. Aberdeen's flagship range of global equity and emerging market funds grew enormously as institutional demand for EM exposure increased from the 1990s onward. In 2017, Aberdeen Asset Management merged with Standard Life to create Standard Life Aberdeen (later renamed abrdn), one of the largest investment companies in the UK and globally. Gilbert served as co-CEO of the combined entity. Aberdeen became particularly known for its "buy and hold forever" approach to emerging market equities and its on-the-ground research in developing market countries. His entrepreneurial drive in building Aberdeen from scratch in Scotland into a global institutional asset manager represents one of the UK's most significant investment management success stories.