Fund giant Standard Life Aberdeen has appointed Keith Skeoch sole chief executive, with former joint boss Martin Gilbert stepping down to become vice-chairman.

The group said Mr Gilbert will also become chairman of Aberdeen Standard Investments as well as an executive director of its board.

Standard Life Aberdeen said that in his new role Mr Gilbert “will be able to focus solely on our strategic relationships with key clients, winning new business and realising the potential from our global network and product capabilities”.

The news came as Standard Life reported underlying pre-tax profits falling to £650m (€757m) in 2018 from £660m (€769m) in 2017.

The move marks the first big change under the chairmanship of former HSBC chairman Douglas Flint, who took on the job from January 1.

It brings to an end the unorthodox joint leadership structure in place since the group was formed out of the £11bn (€12.8bn) merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management in 2017.

Mr Gilbert had previously led Aberdeen Asset Management at the time of the merger.

Mr Douglas said: “The new structure will strengthen our client focus, simplify reporting lines and facilitate robust execution of the next stages of our transition and transformation programmes.”

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