Revenue up but funds drop 4.8% for Brooks Macdonald
Funds under management dropped 4.8% year-on-year to £15.7bn for wealth manager and Financial Planner Brooks Macdonald for year ending 30 June.
Brooks attributed the fall to the impact of declining markets on asset values outweighing positive net flows.
Group revenue rose 3.4% to £122.2m, partially driven by the impact of the firm’s acquisition of the Lloyds Channel Islands business.
The wealth manager and Financial Planner reported a five successive quarter of positive net flows. Net flows rose £1.1bn year-on-year.
Brooks’ managed portfolio service saw a 34.4% increase in net flows for the year.
The firm said it expects adviser demand for outsources investment management to continue to grow.
The firm has set a medium-term ambition of an 8-10% increase in net flows per year, and said it expects flows to remain positive despite ongoing short-term market uncertainty affecting client confidence.
The underlying profit margin rose 2.3 points over the year to 28.2%.
Investment performance across Brooks Macdonald's full range of investment services fell 9.6% year-on-year, driven by declining and volatile markets.
The wealth manager and Financial Planner said all its client and adviser-facing processes are now live on its SS&C platform, which it hailed as a major milestone in the firm’s digital transformation and said will make Brooks increasingly easy for advisers to do business with.
Andrew Shepherd, CEO of Brooks Macdonald, said: “Our clients and advisers are facing a challenging macroeconomic and market environment and, as ever, we will support them through these difficult times. Nonetheless, the fundamental long-term opportunity for Brooks Macdonald remains strong despite these challenges.
“We have momentum, we have an ambitious growth strategy and we have a strong team with the capabilities to take full advantage of the opportunities ahead.”
The wealth manager and Financial Planner also announced a 12.7% in its total dividend for the year to 71p (2021: 63p), in line with the increase in underlying profit before tax.
Brooks Macdonald Group was founded in 1991. It offers investment management services to private high net worth individuals, pension funds, institutions, charities and trusts. The group also provides Financial Planning, as well as international investment management, and acts as fund manager to a range of onshore and international funds. It has 14 offices in the UK and Crown Dependencies.
The wealth manager and Financial Planner has made a number of acquisitions in recent years.