While net inflows of £778m were lower than the previous year’s £965m in sales, the firm still managed to grow AUM by 22% year-on-year and continue its fourteenth consecutive quarter of positive flows.
Since Premier’s acquisition of two OEIC fund umbrellas from Aberdeen Asset Management in 2009, its AUM has more than doubled, standing at £5.1bn as of 28 November.
The asset manager said it was even able to generate £95m in positive net flows in the volatile fourth quarter post-Brexit, though these were smaller than the gains from the preceding three quarters.
The boost in AUM also helped the firm bounce back from its £0.8m loss in 2015 and return a profit of £2.5m.
The group’s chief executive Mike O’Shea hailed 2016 as “another strong year for Premier” and said AUM had continued to expand during the first two months of the new financial year.
“Although the outlook for markets and investor sentiment remains uncertain, with the potential for further volatility ahead, we believe that the business is well placed for the current financial year as well as for the longer term,” he said.
O’Shea added that Premier would begin paying quarterly interim dividends with the first to be paid at the end of the first quarter in December.
Despite a year of good investment outcomes for Premier and its debut listing on the AIM exchange in October, its shares were down close to 2% at 125p.
