Armchair Critic: Could the new Aberdeen/Standard combination offer real industry leadership?

The Standard/Aberdeen deal may well presage other similar link-ups, as the asset management sector comes under pressure from asset loss, regulatory interest, price strains and the closely related swing to passives. Not to mention the fact the many investment bankers who missed out on this deal will be in immediate huddles to come up with other synergistic proposals. Synergies of course ought to have a consumer element to them, but really the conversations are all about shareholder value and, of course, the typical arrangements as to who gets what top job. While in the course of normal bu...