Brooks’ clients withdrew nearly £800m from the discretionary fund manager over the year to June, stalling its funds under management growth at just 4 per cent despite acquisitions.
Results published today (June 16) show Brooks saw £774m of outflows over the 12 months to June, with investors pulling cash from both its discretionary and funds arms.
This meant its Fum total had grown just 4.1 per cent to £13.7bn over the year, despite £131m of positive investment performance and £1.2bn of assets bagged through acquisitions.
Outflows have slowed recently however, with just £64m of the yearly withdrawals occurring in the three months to June. Brooks saw positive flows of £1m into its discretionary arm in Q2, while investors pulled cash from its funds.
The past few years have not been easy for the company, which went on a cost cutting drive in January last year as market conditions put pressure on revenue and has seen a number of senior staff exit the firm.
Jon Gumpel, co-founder and director at the firm, left the company in October last year while John Wallace, who had worked at the firm for 15 years as co-head of the UK investment business, exited in January 2020.
However, some £1.5bn of positive investment performance, combined with the calmer outflows in the three months to June, saw Brooks’ Fum jump 12 per cent over the quarter.
Brooks said the positive results for the most recent quarter was “evidence of the continued reinvigoration of the business”.
Caroline Connellan, chief executive of Brooks Macdonald, said: “We have delivered strong commercial results and are on track to meet profit expectations.
“We have made significant steps forward in achieving our growth ambitions, including two high quality acquisitions, while also continuing to take the necessary actions to set the business up for further success."
Last year Brooks acquired Edinburgh-based DFM Cornelian, then added to its acquisition trail with a buyout of Lloyds’ offshore wealth management and funds business in June.
imogen.tew@ft.com
What do you think about the issues raised by this story? Email us on fa.letters@ft.com to let us know.
