Last year, Aberdeen Investments staked its claim in the sector by forming a new team to support its insurance clients. Just a few months after, the firm has picked up the awards for both Emerging markets and Alternatives manager of the year. Mat Smith, global head of the strategic insurance group at the firm, outlines the new and novel approach his team takes when talking to potential clients.

By Pete Carvill, Insurance Asset Risk

Insurance Asset Risk (IAR): First of all, congratulations on winning this year for both Emerging Markets Manager and Alternatives Manager of the Year. How does it feel?

Mat Smith (MS): It's wonderful. Awards like these are one way in which we increase awareness of our brand. And there's something special about getting a commendation from the industry itself. We are really proud of what we've done, and it's fantastic that the industry validates that.

IAR: We're talking at the beginning of 2026, so there's still a whole year ahead of us. Looking back, though, how important was last year for your insurance strategy?

MS: 2025 was really important for us in that regard, and we finished the year by forming a new specialist global insurance team in October. It showed that we as a company were really nailing our colours to the insurance mast, with a major emphasis on securing strategic partnerships in the insurance ecosystem.

IAR: The formation of that team only happened in October, so there's not been much time to really see definitive results. But what have you observed so far?

MS: Well, this isn't something that we only developed a couple of months ago. It comes on the back of our legacy working within insurance. We've been managing assets in this area for over a century, from being part of an insurance company, so it's 'in with the bricks' of the firm. It's how we think, act, and invest. Right now, we're running over £207bn of insurance assets for 150 clients around the world.

IAR: How did forming the new team fit into your success last year?

MS: Our big win for 2025 was being chosen by Scottish Widows to manage the Growth LTAF for their DC pension proposition. I like to think that we have a really strong approach in how we first sit down with our clients. We go in with the mission to find out what they want and not to assume from the outset that we have all the answers. We have a dialogue with them where we ask what keeps them up at night, and then we think about how we can meet their needs. It's novel, but not innovative – we ask open, inquisitive questions in the same manner as when we were children, but have unfortunately forgotten how to do so as adults! The next step after that is a practical demonstration of what we offer, and the best way to do that is through developing a model portfolio. That could be across any asset class. It's from there that we can give insurers an idea of what it's like to work with Aberdeen.

IAR: There must be a middle ground when you go in where you do have some assumptions. You cannot entirely be a blank slate. Have there been times when your general assumptions over investment requirements have been challenged?

MS: It does happen occasionally. However, we are very fortunate to have a broad set of capabilities across the insurance ecosystem, which allows us to pivot. For example, we recently did a roadshow in the US. We're accustomed to talking mostly about fixed-income asset classes, but on this roadshow we spent a lot of our time speaking about hedge funds, which is something that's not been that well explored with insurers over the last decade.

IAR: The world is in tumultuous state right now. How does that work into your thinking when it comes to alternatives and emerging markets?

MS: The resurgent focus on emerging markets over the last 12 months has been really interesting to watch. The question is why is that asset class getting such traction? It's been one of the major beneficiaries of a tumultuous world and the decline of US exceptionalism. It seems that the only people allocating to the US are within the US itself. When it comes to private markets, the conditions are structurally and fundamentally right for that broad area of investing right now.

IAR: What drivers are you seeing?

MS: One major structural driver is AI. To satisfy the demand for that, you need more data centres, which touches on real estate and infrastructure. And then you have to think about energy, so that ties into more energy and infrastructure, too. That all needs to be funded, through debt and equity. That big structural shift all lends itself to private investment.