Premier Asset Management has broken almost six years of consecutive quarterly net inflows after it reported outflows of £55m in the three months to 30 June.
This compares with net inflows of £202m for the same quarter in 2018.
In its Q3 trading update, published on Tuesday, Premier said a period of “challenging conditions for the investment industry” has seen its assets under management decrease by £53m to £6.7bn.
Willis Owen head of personal investing Adrian Lowcock said: “Premier have established themselves as one of the core multi-asset solutions for IFAs as the figures have shown over the previous six years, however they are not immune to markets.
“The multi-asset solution space is very competitive and there is pressure to perform as well as on fees. Add in the macro economic outlook and the uncertainty over Brexit and weak sales across the whole market are likely to have had an impact.”
For the 12 months to 30 June, the asset manager saw net inflows of £133m, although this was down from £819m in the same period the previous year.
Premier chief executive Mike O’Shea (pictured) said: “The period has seen a continuation of challenging conditions for the investment industry, including record low industry retail net flows, and this has resulted in net outflows for Premier of £55m during the quarter.
“Notwithstanding the challenging industry headwinds, we continue to believe that our focus on relevant products, good investment outcomes after charges and a strong distribution capability means our business remains well positioned for the future when sentiment improves.”
In the same update, the Premier board said it had approved the payment of an interim dividend of 1.70 pence per share for the three-month period ended 30 June.
Chelsea Financial Services managing director Darius McDermott said: “I think Premier have done a very good job. Their AUM is steady in what has been tough conditions for asset managers. Also they have raised their dividend which shareholders will appreciate.”
