Aberdeen Asset loses split-cap case

FUND manager Aberdeen Asset Management has lost a test case in the split-capital trust scandal and has been ordered to pay compensation to the victim. But the company today defied the provisional ruling and announced plans to appeal.

The Financial Ombudsman Service adjudicator found in favour of a complainant who lost money in Aberdeen Progressive Growth Unit Trust and ordered that he be compensated.

About 6,000 people lost money in Progressive, which invested in split-capital investment trusts, and 266 complained to the Ombudsman as a result. However, Aberdeen Asset Management said the adjudicator's assessment 'does not reflect the weight of evidence which Aberdeen has supplied to substantiate its position'.

It is referring the case to the Ombudsman for determination.

Aberdeen's own plan for a compensation package for investors in the Progressive trust was shelved pending the Ombudsman's ruling.