Martin James Gilbert

In 1983 Mr Gilbert quit his job at a law firm to co-found Aberdeen Asset Management. Driven by the Scot’s buccaneering style, the firm quickly amassed assets and profits at a time when portfolio managers could charge customers handsome fees for managing their money without much scrutiny. Thirty-six years later, Mr Gilbert is stepping down from Standard Life Aberdeen, forged in 2017 from the £11bn merger of Aberdeen and Standard Life, at a time when the industry’s profitability is under brutal assault from the rise of passive investing. Born in Malaysia in 1955 and educated at the University of Aberdeen, the exit of the 64-year-old robs the industry of one of its more colourful and outspoken characters.