Stephen Bird

Stephen brings a track record of delivering exceptional value to clients, creating high-quality revenue and earnings growth in complex financial markets, as well as deep experience of business transformation during periods of technological disruption and competitive change. Stephen joined the Board of abrdn in July 2020 as Chief Executive-Designate, and was formally appointed Chief Executive Officer in September 2020. During 2021 he was appointed as an abrdn representative director to the US closed-end fund boards and the SICAV fund boards where abrdn is the appointed investment manager. Previously, Stephen served as chief executive officer of global consumer banking at Citigroup from 2015, retiring from the role in November 2019. His responsibilities encompassed all consumer and commercial banking businesses in 19 countries, including retail banking and wealth management, credit cards, mortgages, and operations and technology supporting these businesses. Prior to this, Stephen was chief executive for all of Citigroup’s Asia Pacific business lines across 17 markets, including India and China. Stephen joined Citigroup in 1998. In 21 years with the company he held leadership roles in banking, operations and technology across its Asian and Latin American businesses. Before this, he held management positions in the UK at GE Capital, where he was director of UK operations from 1996 to 1998, and at British Steel. In other current roles, he is a member of the Investment Association’s board of directors, and a member of the Financial Services Growth and Development Board in Scotland. He holds an MBA in Economics and Finance from University College Cardiff, where he is also an Honorary Fellow.