Specialist investment group Liontrust has blamed repatriation of assets by a single institutional client for a drop in quarterly net flows
The company stated net inflows came to £22m, compared with £66m a year ago, in a quarterly trading update published today (6 July).
Liontrust stated that UK net retail flows were up to their second highest quarterly amount in more than seven years, at £177m.
Assets under management grew from £4.8bn to £9.3bn due to the recent acquisition of Alliance Trust Investments.
All 11 Alliance Trust sustainable investment funds and the investment team were renamed to include the Liontrust brand, but will continue to use the same managers and investment processes as before.
John Ions, chief executive of Liontrust, used the trading update to comment on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s study into asset management.
Last week the FCA recommended a single all-in fee for investors and announced it will further investigate how disclosure can be improved.
He said: “As active fund managers, there is a key role for us to play in helping investors meet their financial requirements.
"The moves to improve transparency, communication and value are steps in the right direction."
He added that Liontrust, along with the rest of the industry had a significant role to play in “alleviating the savings problem”.
Mr Ions said: “I believe Liontrust is in a strong position to achieve this with our focus on active fund management, investment processes along with client service and communications."
He said that 14 of the group’s UK domiciled funds are in the first or second quartile for performance since launch, although four, including the Global Income fund, are in the fourth.
rosie.murray-west@ft.com
