The total FUM was down from £39.1bn at the end of Q4 2017 to £37.8bn over the first three months this year.
In a trading update this morning, the wealth manager reported a slowdown in growth with “marginally higher outflows” for its investment management arm, with net inflows at £199m in Q1, down from £318m during the same period last year.
This represented total net annualised growth rate of 2.4%, down from 4.2% in Q1 2017.
However, net operating income for the investment arm was still up 5.2%, from £63.3m in Q1 2017 to £66.6m.
Likewise, Rathbones’ unit trusts arm saw net operating income at £8.8m for the three months to 31 March 2018, up 20.5% from £7.3m for the comparable period in 2017.
Additionally, although largely offset by market performance, unit trusts also experienced strong net inflows of £142m during the quarter, an increase from £109m in 2017.
At a group level, Rathbones’ underlying net operating income was up 6.8% during the quarter at £75.4m, from £70.6m during the same period last year.
Chief executive Philip Howell (pictured) said although investment markets fell back a little, “trading was solid”.
He said: “Total funds under management fell 3.3% to £37.8bn during the quarter, compared with decreases in the FTSE 100 index and the MSCI WMA Private Investor Balanced index of 6.4% and 3.8% respectively.”
The update follows Rathbones’ statement in April that it is preparing a takeover battle for 112-year old Scottish stockbroker, Speirs & Jeffrey.
Earlier this month, the firm also moved group finance director Paul Stockton into the newly created role of managing director to strengthen its executive team.
