InvestmentsJan 7 2020

Smith makes £16m as fund house profits rise

twitter-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-iconmail-iconprint-icon
Search supported by
Smith makes £16m as fund house profits rise

Fund manager Terry Smith has received a minimum of £16m in pay in the year to March 30, 2019, according to records at Companies House.

Fundsmith's accounts, which were filed on January 6, showed the fund house founded by Mr Smith posted a profit of £26.4m for the year to the end of March, up from £20.9m the previous year. 

Fundsmith is a partnership, with the accounts stating Mr Smith controls more than 50 per cent of the voting rights among the partners.

The accounts stated that Mr Smith’s share of the available profits paid to the partnership was £16m, from the total of £23m that was distributed among the eight partners.

The firm had 22 staff at the end of the accounting period and a wage bill of £7.7m. 

In 2018 Mr Smith, who in addition to his role as partner is chief investment officer at the firm and manages the Fundsmith Equity fund, had collected pay of £12m. 

The firm’s flagship fund, which has assets today (January 7) of £18.8bn, and is among the top 25 per cent of funds in the IA Global sector over the past one, three and five years. 

Mr Smith is based in Mauritius, where the company also has an office. 

In the accounts, an item listed under “related party transactions” showed the firm paid £115m in fees to a company called Fundsmith Investment Services Limited, which is registered in Mauritius.

This company received the money, according to the accounts, for providing services to the Fundsmith Partnership. 

Fundsmith Investment Services is a related party to the partnership as it is controlled by the same person or people. 

The £115m relates to fees received by the company in Mauritius, not to any profits made by that company. 

Whether the company is profitable or how any such profits are distributed is not known, as it is registered outside the UK.   

david.thorpe@ft.com

What do you think about the issues raised by this story? Email us on fa.letters@ft.com to let us know.