This year’s rally in financial markets has proved to be in favour of fund management groups.
Schroders led the way in the first quarter of 2013 after reporting a pre-tax profit of £115m, rising from £95.5m in the same period last year.
The group’s asset management arm saw net inflows increase more than 240 per cent from £1.7bn the previous year to £5.8bn in Q1 2013. Net inflows comprised of £2.3bn in institutional and £3.5bn from intermediary channels.
Rathbones, meanwhile, saw its fund business, Rathbone Unit Trust Management, increase 10.8 per cent to £1.4bn at the end of March from £1.3bn at the end of December, with net inflows of £23m during the quarter.
Elsewhere, flows into M&G funds increased by 38 per cent – £2.4bn for the first quarter. The firm’s parent company, Prudential, said in its Q1 statement M&G’s inflows – up from £1.7bn in the last three months of 2012 – helped boost its assets under management (AUM) to £238bn – a record high.
Prudential said the AUM was boosted by record inflows of £2.9bn from European investors, which offset “weaker” sales in the UK.
Conversely, F&C Asset Management reported a net outflow of £1.5bn for the first quarter of this year. This is in spite of the group’s AUM rising 3.6 per cent from £95.2bn to £98.8bn in Q1.
The firm’s strategic partner withdrawals – which saw a loss of £1.3bn – offset improved retail flows.
Its retail business saw net inflows of £139m during the period from January to March, although its wholesale saw outflows of £178m.
Net inflows at a glance:
Schroder Investment Management – £5.8bn
Rathbones Unit Trust Management – £23m
M&G – £2.4bn
F&C – £-1.5bn
