16th Apr 2020 11:16
(Alliance News) - Brooks Macdonald Group PLC said Thursday its funds under management struggled in the third quarter as the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
Despite this, the asset manager reconfirmed its intention to distribute its 21.0 pence interim dividend.
At March 31, the asset manager's funds under management stood at GBP12.22 billion, down 6.6% from the GBP13.09 billion the firm opened quarter with. Since the beginning of Brooks' financial year, FuM are down 7.0% from GBP13.15 billion.
UKIM Discretionary funds slipped 11% in the third quarter to GBP8.94 billion, as BPS funds fell 11% and MPS funds dropped 12%.
In the third quarter, Brooks Macdonald recorded GBP204 million in net outflows, while the firm's investment performance shaved GBP1.84 billion off total funds.
The assets manager noted its investment performance was negative 14.1% in the quarter, but this outperformed the MSCI WMA Private Investor Balanced Index - which lost 15.2% in the same period.
Chief Executive Caroline Connellan said: "While the scale and duration of the current disruption are unknown, we remain optimistic about the medium term outlook for Brooks Macdonald. Given our focus on clients and advisers, our actions in response to the crisis, and our continuing strategic execution, we are well positioned to take advantage of opportunities once the worst of the Covid-19 crisis is past."
Brooks noted its fee revenues - which is driven by quarter-end FuM - were hurt by the "sharp" decline in funds over the quarter.
"Total revenues held up well with higher transaction revenue partly offsetting the lower fees," the asset manager added.
Brooks continued: "The ongoing Covid-19 crisis will inevitably have some impact on the current year out-turn. However, should markets at our financial year end (June 30, 2020) be broadly in line with current levels, we would anticipate delivering a satisfactory result, marginally ahead of last year's in terms of underlying profit and underlying profit margin. Given the nature of the crisis all guidance is inevitably subject to uncertainty."
Shares in Brooks Macdonald were 2.0% lower in London on Thursday at 1,519.10 pence each.
By Paul McGowan; [email protected]
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