Net outflows fell to £318m for asset manager Premier Miton for the year ended 30 September 2024.

This compares to net outflows of £1.147bn for the previous year.

Despite the improvement in net flows, adjusted profit before tax fell to £12.1m for the year (2023: £15.7m), with profit before tax falling to £3.2m (2023: £5.9m).

The asset manager ended the year with £10.7bn in assets under management, a 9% increase year-on-year (2023: £9.8bn).

In its full year financial results, the asset manager said it believed it was strongly positioned in terms of investment performance for the year. It said 68% of its funds were within the first or second quartile of their respective sectors since launch or fund manager tenure.

Mike O'Shea, CEO of Premier Miton, said the past few years have been a difficult time for most active fund managers.

He said: “The business focus during this more difficult period for active managers has been very much on the areas that are within our control. This includes ensuring that our product mix is well diversified so that we are not overly exposed in any one area and an absolute focus on delivering strong investment performance whilst staying loyal to our principles of providing truly active management and original thinking.

“Alongside this we have continued to develop our distribution reach, our brand and our client service as well as maintaining a disciplined approach to cost control and operational efficiency. And of course, good execution of M&A activity will remain critical in an industry that will continue to present opportunities for inorganic growth.”

Premier Miton was formed in November 2019 with the merger of Premier Asset Management and Miton Group. It has a range of multi-asset funds, equity funds and investment companies.

At the time of the merger, assets under management were £11.6bn. The asset manager has reported net outflows for the majority of quarters since, with assets under management still £1bn below where they were at the time of the merger.

The asset manager was considering a further merger when it bid for rival River & Mercantile, before withdrawing from discussions in January 2022.

Premier Milton said it had concluded that there were insufficient commercial merits to make a formal acquisition proposal.

In July this year Premier Miton launched a managed portfolio service offering two actively managed portfolio ranges. The asset manager said it was launching its own MPS due to increasing demand from advisers.