Ninety One has finished its first year as a listed business with net redemptions after UK investors piled out of its multi-asset and UK equity strategies.
In its maiden set of final results since spinning off from Investec the fund group revealed it had racked up net outflows of £197m for the year ended 31 March 2021. The year before it had recorded net inflows of £6bn.
As with its half year results, the exodus of cash came from the institutional side, with investors withdrawing £1.7bn during the year, offsetting the £1.5bn in net inflows from advisers.
While institutional net flows were strong in fixed income, they were negative across all other asset classes with equities bearing the brunt of the redemptions.
UK investors withdraw £1.4bn from multi-asset and UK equities
Of its client groups, UK investors accounted for the highest level of redemptions, yanking £1.4bn in total from its strategies during the year, more than double the £653m worth of outflows from its Americas-based investors.
Most of the money pulled was from its multi-asset and UK equity funds, which “overrode the substantial net inflows” into its sustainability funds.
Its UK Special Situations fund endured a particularly brutal period, shedding two thirds of its assets, following the Covid-induced sell-off and the exit of manager and value stalwart Alastair Mundy.
The fund has since been merged with the UK Total Return fund, another of Mundy’s shrinking funds, which lost 80% of its assets last year.
However, Ninety One did receive a boost from its Africa and Asia Pacific client groups, which poured £1.7bn and £403m into its strategies respectively.
AUM grows by 27%
Ninety One chief executive Hendrik du Toit (pictured) said the group was “disappointed” to not have achieved net inflows for the full reporting period.
But he added: “Flow momentum has improved in the second half and we enter the new financial year with a strong pipeline.”
Despite being hit by outflows the fund house grew assets under management by 27% in its first full year as a listed company.
Total assets climbed from £103.4bn to £130.9bn by the end of March 2021, driven largely by positive market movements off the back of the Covid recovery which added £27.7bn to the total.
Profit before tax increased by 3% to £204.1m, while adjusted operating profit was up 9% to £206.2m.
