Rathbones saw its funds under management and administration fall by 11.6 per cent to £60.2bn in the year to December 31.
In a statement to the stock exchange this morning (March 1), the firm saw the figure fall from £68.2bn in 2021.
Funds under management were down 15.3 per cent in Rathbone Funds, to £11bn from £13bn, and the firm’s investment management business saw a 10.2 per cent drop to £45.1bn.
Saunderson House had £4.1bn which was also down 16.3 per cent from £4.9bn in 2021.
Paul Stockton, group chief executive, said: "The UK wealth and asset management sector remains fundamentally attractive, underpinned by long-term trends.
"The strong progress we have made this year to develop our investment and financial planning services is part of our ongoing investment to improve client experience and promote efficiency.
“Our financial results reflect the difficult market conditions faced by many investors in 2022, but also the very deliberate investment in technology we have committed to, which will provide critical support to the delivery of the personal service we offer and improve our investment capability.”
The firm reported that profit before tax totalled £64.1mn, down from £95mn, and underlying profit before tax totalled £97.1mn compared to £120.7mn.
Rathbones said this resulted in an underlying operating profit margin of 21.3 per cent which was in line with expectations after planned investment in change and technology.
Meanwhile, the firm said net inflows into its multi-asset fund range were strong, totalling £0.4bn and equating to net growth for the year of 20 per cent. This was slightly lower than £0.5bn in 2021.
Stockton said throughout the year, the firm “remained focused” on providing consistency and reassurance to its clients, to help them achieve their financial goals.
Elsewhere in the results, it revealed that fees from advisory services and other income increased 88.3 per cent to £51.4mn, which the firm said reflected a full-year's impact of Saunderson House and contributed £23.4mn of additional revenue.
Rathbone Financial Planning, Vision, and the Trust business have contributed an additional £0.7mn to advisory income year-on-year.
In June 2021, the group announced it had agreed to buy advice firm Saunderson House for £150mn, which saw Rathbones’ in-house financial planner numbers increase from 25 to 80, and added around 2,200 clients with an average portfolio size of £2.2mn.
After the acquisition, the chief executive told FTAdviser it had a surplus cash “cushion” of £60mn if the company wants to do more deals.
In today’s update, the firm said investment in its medium-term strategy will continue in 2023, to complete the integration of Saunderson House and the investment in its digital programme.
“We remain on track to invest a total of £40mn in this programme, continuing to target a return to more usual 'higher 20s' underlying operating margin levels by the end of 2024, as benefits from recent acquisitions and planned investment are achieved.
“The wealth management sector continues to offer a significant long-term opportunity which Rathbones has the brand, momentum and balance sheet strength to benefit from.”
sonia.rach@ft.com
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