Brooks Macdonald Group plc (“Brooks Macdonald” or “the Group”) today publishes a Trading Update and announces its Funds under Management (“FUM”) for the fourth quarter of its financial year, which ended 30 June 2021.
Trading Update
The Group had a positive fourth quarter, benefiting from its strong client and intermediary relationships combined with continued robust investment performance. Therefore, the Group anticipates a full year result in line with market expectations and previous guidance.
Funds under Management
Total Group FUM finished the quarter at a record £16.5 billion (31 March 2021: £15.6 billion), an overall increase of 5.3% in the quarter and 20.3% compared to the FY20 close (30 June 2020: £13.7 billion).
The increase in the quarter was driven by both strong investment performance (adding £0.7 billion), and a return to positive net flows (£0.1 billion), as per previous guidance. Every month in the quarter had positive net flows at Group level with June having the strongest monthly figure, underscoring the growing momentum behind the business and its strategy.
Highlights for the fourth quarter included:
- Overall investment performance for the period was robust at 4.4%, in line with the MSCI PIMFA Private Investor Balanced Index which was up by 4.3%.
- UKIM discretionary FUM had strongly positive net flows of £0.2 billion, an annualised rate of 7.6%.
- Flows in the UKIM Funds business were broadly flat. Outflows in the Defensive Capital Fund slowed materially with a small net positive result in June.
- The International business recorded net outflows during the quarter of £73 million, primarily reflecting the previously disclosed loss of a low-yielding mandate.
Over the course of the full financial year, FUM increased by £2.8 billion (20.3%). This reflects the Channel Islands wealth management assets acquired from Lloyds Banking Group in November 2020 of £0.9 billion in combination with positive investment performance of £2.2 billion, partly offset by organic net outflows of £0.3 billion.
Overall investment performance for the financial year to June was 15.8%, well ahead of the MSCI PIMFA Private Investor Balanced Index which rose by 12.9% over the same period.
Andrew Shepherd, CEO designate of Brooks Macdonald comments:
“I’m pleased to see Brooks Macdonald returning to positive net flows and I’m hugely excited by the opportunity before us. We’ve put in an enormous amount of effort over the last few years to build the foundations for the future success of the Group and I’m delighted with the progress we’ve made.
“We move ahead with confidence because of the talent and commitment of the people who work here. I’m deeply impressed by how everyone has pulled together to deliver strong results during an especially challenging time. We maintained high quality service to our clients and intermediaries and delivered robust investment performance, well ahead of the relevant index over the year. We have a great team in place and an exciting future ahead.”
