Brooks Macdonald added an extra billion to its funds under management in six months, despite client confidence in the markets being hindered by Brexit.
The Aim-listed company has seen discretionary funds under management jump to £9.3bn at the end of 2016, up 12.4 per cent from the £8.3bn posted at the end of June last year.
The discretionary fund manager also grew by 4 per cent, against a backdrop of uncertainty following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union and the implications of a Donald Trump presidency.
Chris Macdonald, chief executive of Brooks Macdonald, said these outcomes have “undoubtedly” dented client sentiment over the six months ending 31 December.
While he pointed out that portfolios have performed well in these challenging conditions, the Brooks Macdonald boss said he still expects volatility to remain entrenched in the markets.
“The group has continued to make good progress on a number of fronts,” he said, pointing to the firm’s organic growth of £806m in the calendar year.
Assuming that markets remain supportive, we remain comfortable with our assumption of strong profits growth.Stuart DuncanHe also said the firm was continuing its growth strategies both onshore and offshore, and was making progress with the development of its IT system.
In April, former HSBC head Caroline Connellan will take over as Brooks Macdonald’s chief executive, and Mr Macdonald said he looks forward to the future with confidence.
Stuart Duncan, analyst at stockbroking firm Peel Hunt, said the DFM’s asset growth had made good progress towards his end-of-year prediction of £9.5bn.
Assuming that markets remain supportive, Mr Duncan said he was still comfortable with his expectation that Brooks would continue to see strong growth in terms of profit.
“There is no change in the investment case for Brooks – it remains predicated on outperforming the rest of the sector in terms of asset growth.”
katherine.denham@ft.com
