The company’s pre-tax profit hit £32.7bn, more than double compared to the previous year.
Chairman Tom Bartlam said that despite the turbulence and volatility in global stock markets the firm’s Japanese funds accounted for over 50% of its net inflows.
“By the end of our financial year, the Japanese team was managing assets in excess of $5bn – this was the first time in our history that a team has reached $5bn in assets,” he said.
However, the first quarter of the firm’s current financial year was marked by net outflows.
Polar Capital said that after 15 quarters of net inflows, the first three months of its current financial year has seen net outflows of $300m due to more challenging market conditions.
Commenting on its strategy of assembling 12 investment teams, Chief executive Tim Woolley confirmed plans to grow the teams by a third.
“After an eighteen month period of consolidation in terms of team numbers, we are now actively looking to make additions again. We are encouraged by the number and quality of unsolicited approaches we are now receiving from managers across a variety of strategies as our profile continues to increase within the industry.”
He added that the company remained firmly committed to developing its alternatives business through investing in existing teams and taking on new managers. The “rapidly growing” market for alternative UCITS products was now becoming a main product choice for European buyers.
“Our recent experience with the launch of our Global Convertible UCITS product is illustrative of the trend. The fund was launched in November and already has nearly $100m. We anticipate we will launch additional alternative UCITS,” Woolley said.
