Poll suggests Standard Life Aberdeen’s governing duo could face investor pressure for change of leadership

The results suggest pressure could be mounting on SLA’s reigning duo of Keith Skeoch and Martin Gilbert as more favour a move away from the current co-CEO structure and seek an outsider for the top role.

Two thirds of 21 surveyed investors polled in the Procensus-organised research asked for SLA’s co-chief executives structure including Mr Skeoch and Mr Gilbert, to be scrapped.

Mr Gilbert founded Aberdeen Asset Management in the early eighties and when the firm merged with Standard Life last year he and Mr Skeoch pledged that they would serve as co-chief executives of the newly created mega firm for a decade.

Procensus said it could not confirm those who voted in the poll were in fact SLA’s shareholders, but according to reports, the investors responding to the poll have a “high level of interest” in SLA.

But the poll result showed that 20 per cent of respondents asked Mr Skeoch to take reign of the company, while none wanted to see Mr Gilbert in charge.

Mr Skeoch dismissed the poll’s results, questioning it’s legitimacy.

Skeoch said: “Martin has his areas of responsibility and I have mine. We are both the key decision makers in those areas of responsibility.

“There has not yet been anything where there has been a fundamental disagreement. Our approach to things we think are really important are pretty much shared.”