PlatformsMar 6 2015

ATS increases assets but profits fall

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ATS increases assets but profits fall

Alliance Trust Savings’ assets under administration ended the year at £6.4bn, up 19 per cent compared to wider market growth of 13 per cent, although operating profit was down over last year.

Since the start of 2015, assets under administration has increased a further 8 per cent to £6.9bn, which the firm put down to the appeal of its flat-fee charging structure in a post-RDR world. However, over 2014 operating profit fell to £200,000 from £400,000 in 2013.

Katherine Garrett-Cox, chief executive of Alliance Trust, said: “One factor in the fall in operating profit was the number of customers, mostly with smaller balances, who elected to close their accounts when we announced that we were increasing the administration fees for Isas and dealing accounts by 87 per cent in February 2014.”

ATS’s expenses increased 20 per cent last year, mainly due to invested in the operations team in order to deliver the ‘Vision 2020’ ambition. Further investment in new technology was £3.8m, which was capitalised as an intangible asset.

Meanwhile, Alliance Trust Investments ended the year with third party assets under management of £1.9bn, generating net inflows of £88m and reducing losses by 23 per cent to £3.2m.

Ms Garrett-Cox said it had been a year of two halves, with disappointing results at the half year having a bearing on the overall picture.

“I am pleased to report that the second half performance represents a complete contrast to the first; we reported an NAV Total Return of 0.3 per cent in the first half, 7.8 per cent in the second, making 8.1 per cent for the full year.”

peter.walker@ft.com