The Old Mutual Global Equity Absolute Return Fund, run by Ian Heslop’s quantitative strategies team saw a 744% increase in assets under management, from £65.6m to £554m year-on-year.
UK Alpha, unsurprisingly, sat at £1.26bn, up from £163m, following the recruitment of Richard Buxton last year, delivering a 675% increase in AUM.
Overall, Old Mutual Wealth reported a strong Q1, more than doubling its net client cash flow from £400m in the same period last year to £1.1bn.
WealthSelect boosted Q1 platform sales
Skandia UK platform gross sales were £1.3bn on the platform, with 28% of new business sales contributing to the inflows at OMGI. Total platform funds under management is now £28.1bn, with Q1 sales momentum boosted by the launch of WealthSelect, designed to meet advisers’ growing demand for outsourced portfolio management solutions.
The business has welcomed external factors, with the overhaul of the UK pension system as announced in the March Budget presenting a favourable business opportunity.
“Old Mutual Wealth does not write annuities but is one of the leading providers of pension income drawdown products in the UK. We offer our customers flexibility via our pension platform as well as providing investment solutions in OMGI’s Generation funds that enable them to manage their retirement income options,” said Julian Roberts, group chief executive.
"Customers have always needed advice but the greater freedom proposed by the Chancellor will increase this need further. And it is full advice they need, guidance will not go far enough for customers. They will need tailored, individual advice from a fully qualified and professional financial adviser," added Paul Feeney, chief executive of Old Mutual Wealth.
"We are building a customer proposition that will deliver this advice along with actively managed portfolios and tax efficient products, all at a competitive cost. We are taking high quality wealth management services and making them available to all retail investors through our platform where they can view their investments at any time via our new online customer centre. We are trying to make wealth management less daunting and more accessible to customers and we think that will encourage them to save for their futures."
With that in mind, in February, Old Mutual Wealth purchased Intrinsic, one of the UK’s largest financial adviser networks in a deal which subsequently saw it pick up a 50% stake in core investment proposition, Cirilium, previously owned by Henderson Global Investors, consisting of five multi-manager, risk-profiled funds.
