Sir Gerry Grimstone chairs Aberdeen Standard joint venture

Sir Gerry Grimstone, the former chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen, is to chair a joint venture between the Scottish financial giant’s asset management arm and Investcorp.

Grimstone’s appointment follows his recent decision to step down from his roles as a non-executive director of Barclays and chairman of its subsidiary, Barclays Bank.

Former HSBC chairman, Scottish-born Sir Douglas Flint, succeeded Grimstone as chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen at the start of this year.

The joint venture involving Aberdeen Standard Investments and Investcorp is to pump cash into social and core infrastructure projects in Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) countries, which have a collective population of about 57 million people and are home to almost half the world’s oil reserves. Governments there are now taking steps to diversify their economies away from oil.

Grimstone said: “I am delighted to be appointed chairman of the joint ven- ture. The long-term economic potential of GCC is unquestionable but rightly governments across the region recognise the need to build and improve their countries’ infrastructure.

“The private sector has a key role to play. Aberdeen Standard Investments’ and Investcorp’s experience and expertise can help to deliver these essential projects.” 0 Grimstone had been chair of Standard Life Aberdeen group