Investors in Impax are set for a dividend boost after its assets under management rose to £2.2bn, up from £1.8bn a year ago.
While Impax Asset Management’s revenues stayed fairly static year on year, and slipped from £18.6m to £18.5m over the 12 months to 30 September, the specialist investment house managed to grow its assets, and saw strong flows into its water strategy.
Keith Falconer, chairman of Impax, said: “Investor interest in the resource efficiency sectors continues to build, providing further opportunity for us to promote our services around the world.
"The board now believes the company is in a position to be able to support both a higher annual dividend as well as the initiation of an interim dividend commencing in 2014. The board's policy is to grow future dividends progressively in line with our view of business performance."
Although Impax’s profit before tax dipped from £4.7m to £3.4m over the same stretch, the firm’s board recommended an increased dividend of 0.90p p per share, up from 2012’s 0.75p per share payout. It also declared its first interim dividend, covering the year ending 30 September 2014.
Family office boom
Elsewhere, Impax chief Ian Simm said that the firm had been “encouraged” by the increased investor demand for specialist resources and ethical funds, and as such, Impax was looking to capture new markets.
“In the UK, we have been developing the family office and global distributor segments, channels that to date have been relatively untapped,” Simm said.
“Separately, following the acquisition of Skandia Investment Management by Old Mutual Global Investors, we expect a renewed marketing drive for the Ethical Fund that we have been sub-managing since 2010 and which now has £77m of assets,” Simm continued, adding that in Europe, Impax’s distribution partners were also doing well and over the year had been successful in expanding the assets the firm runs for them.
A notable example is the BNP Aqua Fund, Simm said, which grew from €85.9m to €435.9m over the period reviewed.
