Brooks Macdonald, Rathbones and Charles Stanley have all posted marginal gains in funds under management (FUM) during the three months to the end of September.
Brooks Macdonald reported a 2.2% increase in its FUM during the period as group assets climbed from £16.5bn at the end of June to £16.8bn the end of September, which it put down to positive net flows and strong investment performance.
It said overall investment performance during the period was 1.4% which was ahead of the MSCI Pimfa Private Investor Balanced Index’s 0.2%.
The UK investment management business saw £200m of inflows during the period while the UK funds business saw a £26m outflow.
Brooks Macdonald chief executive Andrew Shepherd said: “We have made a solid start to the financial year, with positive net flows in the period contributing to record FUM of £16.8bn, and we have continued to provide benchmark-beating investment performance for clients.
“There is a clear energy about the business, helped by the passion and excitement our team gets from increasingly meeting face-to-face with advisers and clients again. We have a strong pipeline and we are confident of further improvement in net flows over the course of the year.”
Charles Stanley shows ‘good momentum’
Similarly, Charles Stanley’s funds under management and administration (FUMA) rose marginally during the period, from £27.1bn to £27.4bn.
FUMA was up by 7% against the financial year-end position of £25.6bn at 31 March 2021.
Group revenue increased by 15.3% to £46m, up from £39.9m in the same quarter last year, with increases in fee income of 19.5% and commission income of 3.4% offsetting a significant contraction in interest income of 40%.
Charles Stanley chief executive Paul Abberley said: “The group continues to display good momentum across all areas, with growth in revenues from all our divisions.”
The firm confirmed that on 16 September a majority of Charles Stanley shareholders voted in favour of its takeover by Raymond James.
Rathbones’ funds arm sees record quarterly inflow
Elsewhere, Rathbones reported its FUMA has hit £60.9bn during the three months to the end of September, representing an 11.3% increase since the start of the year when assets were £54.7bn.
The firm’s investment management business saw net organic inflows for the quarter of £329m, up from a net outflow of £169m in the same quarter last year.
The funds business saw record net inflows totalling £563m, a 19.8% uptick on Q3 last year when it took onboard £395m.
Underlying net operating income was £106.4m for the three months ended 30 September, an increase of 22.3% from the £87m for the same period in 2020.
Rathbones chief executive Paul Stockton (pictured) said: “Following a strong third quarter of growth, our total funds under management and administration reached £60.9bn at 30 September 2021. Positive net organic inflows in investment management and record net inflows into Rathbone Funds reflect our continuing momentum and delivery against the strategic priorities we have set out for growth.”
The firm is expected to complete the acquisition of Saunderson House in Q4 this year.
