Charles Stanley Group has recorded a 3.3 per cent increase in its total funds under management and administration to £20.8bn as of June 30 2015, compared with a year earlier.
But while the figure rose in the past 12 months, the three months from March 2015 was weaker, with total funds under management and administration dipping 2.2 per cent from the £21.26bn recorded at March 31.
In its interim statement the firm revealed managed funds accounted for £12bn of the total funds up from £11.5bn at the end of June 2014. This included £9.2bn in its discretionary funds business, although this was 1.3 per cent lower than at the end of March 2015, while the £2.8bn held in advisory managed funds slipped 5.4 per cent in the quarter following a combination of small outflows and negative market movements.
The remainder of the assets are held in its administered funds business, comprised of advisory dealing and execution only funds, which also saw assets fall by 2 per cent in the quarter.
Meanwhile the results statement noted revenues from “continuing activities” for the first quarter increased 4.9 per cent to £36.3m year-on-year. The group’s total revenues - including those of Charles Stanley Securities and Charles Stanley Financial Solutions, which at the end of the quarter were both ‘Held for Sale’ - increased by 3.5 per cent to £38.6m. The completion of the sale of Charles Stanley Securities took place after the end of the quarter on July 15 2015.
The group stated: “Our strategic intent is to focus on vertically integrated, or holistic wealth management, built around an investment led, bespoke approach to client delivery. Our ambition is to be a leading UK wealth manager by 2020, however in the shorter-term we are focused on building the operating margin to at least 15 per cent in 2018 and then further beyond that.”
