Market decline drags on Brooks Macdonald first-quarter performance

13th Oct 2022 12:47

(Sharecast News) - Brooks Macdonald reported positive first quarter net flows of £0.2bn in an update on Thursday, with continued momentum in new business, against a backdrop of volatile markets.

The AIM-traded firm said a further decline in global markets at the end of September offset the positive net flows, leading to a 0.9% decrease in its closing funds under management to £15.5bn on 30 September, from £15.7bn at the end of June.

It said it delivered "strong" positive net flows, continuing the trend reported in prior quarters and achieving an annualised rate of 4.9%, in line with the previous financial year.

UKIM discretionary funds under management had positive net flows of £0.2bn, or an annualised rate of 8.1%, driven by MPS Platform, which saw an annualised net flow rate of 47.3%.

MPS Platform includes the group's business-to-business offering, BM Investment Solutions.

Overall investment performance for the quarter recorded a reduction of £0.3bn, or 2.1%, ahead of the MSCI PIMFA Private Investor Balanced Index, which declined by 3.6% in the period.

Brooks Macdonald said that while its pipeline for the 2023 financial year remained "robust", market conditions were resulting in some clients taking longer to commit funds.

"Despite the difficult political and economic conditions in our first quarter, net flows were running at an annualised 4.9% - an excellent result, continuing the trend seen in the previous financial year," said chief executive officer Andrew Shepherd.

"Given the challenging backdrop, high quality financial advice and robust long-term investment management are needed now more than ever.

"We remain confident in our expectations for new business flows and in the group's ability to deliver our ambitious growth strategy."

At 1220 BST, shares in Brooks Macdonald Group were down 0.95% at 1,802.8p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.