The acquisition of the investment management business of Alliance Trust helped Liontrust grow its assets under management (AUM) by £4bn in the year to 31 March 2018.
Liontrust’s AUM was £10.5bn on 31 March 2018, which is the end of the company’s financial year. This compares with £6.5bn at the start of that period.
This represents growth of 61 per cent.
Liontrust acquired Alliance Trust Investments in December 2016. In a trading update released to the stock market this morning (11 April), Liontrust said the investment team it acquired as a result of this contributed £500m of assets during 2017.
In the first three months of 2018, inflows were £255m.
Liontrust announced the hire of experienced bond fund investors David Roberts and Phil Milburn from Kames in August, and Donald Phillips from Baillie Gifford in January.
The trio are to launch three bond funds at Liontrust. The first of these opens to the market on 13 April.
John Ions, chief executive of Liontrust said: “Our commitment to active management, driven by strong investment processes, has never been more important as the passive versus active debate continues to divide investors.
“The asset management industry is under immense scrutiny from both regulators and, more importantly, investors.
"This is a time of great opportunity, however, and the successful companies will offer strong long-term performance in line with client expectations combined with first class service and communication.
“By continuing to focus on these core objectives, we can engender trust, retain investor loyalty and look forward with confidence.”
David.Thorpe@ft.com
