In its results for the year to the end of March, total third-party assets under management grew by 20%, to £89bn, as pre-tax operating profit for its assets management business grew by more than 50%, up from £83m in the previous financial year to £127m.
The division recorded strong net inflows of £7bn contributing to a 27% increase in assets under management, from £46bn to £59bn.
Profits from the firm’s wealth and investment management business grew from £26m to £40m, p 56%, while pre-tax profits from its private banking teams leapt from £37m to £91m.
When looked at in the context of the business as a whole, the asset management and wealth management businesses accounted for 38.6% of the group’s operating profit during the past year, compared to 25.3% in 2010.
Stephen Koseff, chief executive officer, said: “Over the past two years, we have re-positioned the group as a specialist bank and asset manager and made substantial progress in realigning our business model in response to the challenging and uncertain regulatory landscape. Whilst our performance remains sensitive to the global economy, our current assessment of the environment is for an improvement in impairments and growth in the overall business for the year ahead.”
