Wealth manager reports 14.3% increase in total funds under management

Private wealth manager Rathbone Brothers has seen its total funds under management and administration (FUMA) rise by 14.3% to £50.4bn.

In an update today the firm, with a key base in Liverpool’s Port of Liverpool Building, said the FTSE 100 Index increased 12.1% and the MSCI WMA Private Investor Balanced Index increased 13.1%, in comparison, over the same period to Decembrer 31, 2019.

Rathbones said its FUMA comprised £43bn in the investment management business, up 11.7% from £38.5bn at December 31, 2018, and £7.4bn in the unit trusts business, up 32.1% from £5.6bn.

Total net inflows across the group in 2019 were £600m, compared with £8.5bn in 2018.

The total net inflows in 2018 included the impact of £6.8bn of acquired FUMA driven primarily by the acquisition of Speirs and Jeffrey.

Gross organic inflows in investment management for the year totalled £3.3bn (2018: £3.8bn) in spite of weaker investor sentiment and no reoccurrence of the larger shorter term mandates won in 2018.

Gross outflows for the year totalled £3.9bn (2018: £2.7bn). The last quarter of 2019 saw the exit of some lower margin mandates following the integration of Speirs & Jeffrey and additional outflows as some pension and other institutional mandates were repositioned by trustees.

Full year net inflows in unit trusts of £943m (2018: £543m) were particularly strong against a difficult market backdrop for asset managers. This represents 16.7% of opening funds under management.

Looking ahead, the business said: “Although we continue to expect macro-economic conditions to drive volatility more generally across investment markets in the shorter term, we remain focused on pursuing the strategic objectives we set out in October 2019.”

Rathbone Brothers will issue its preliminary statement of annual results for the year ended December 31, 2019 on Thursday, February 20.