Liontrust Asset Management reached £37.2bn in assets under management and advice at the end of 2021, marking a 20 per cent asset increase between April and December last year.
This brings Liontrust’s total asset gains for the first nine months of its current financial year, set to end in March, to £2.9bn.
This total does not, however, include the fund management group’s proposed acquisition of Majedie announced last month, which - if all goes to plan - should add £5.8bn assets to Liontrust’s balance sheet in April at the start of its next financial year.
As of January 14, the group had a lesser £36bn in AUMA, pointing to a more recent outflow of funds the group’s financial statement published today (January 19).
The group had recorded net inflows of £832m between October and December, a 5 per cent increase on the same quarter a year earlier (£792m).
John Ions, Liontrust’s chief executive, said Liontrust’s growth was the result of the group’s “continued focus on meeting client expectations”.
He cited “strong investment processes” as being “even more critical to long-term performance” at a time of increased volatility.
“The Economic Advantage team have now been applying their investment process for more than 24 years and their four UK equity funds are all in the first quartile since they started managing them,” he said.
Ions also cited the “great success” the group has been having in recent months with “new-style videos”, as the firm continues to develop its digital communications.
Majedie, Liontrust’s seventh acquisition, is expected to further enhance the group’s distribution among institutional investors and consultants, according to Ions.
He added the “positive reaction” the firm has received following the deal announcement, which is expected to be ‘earnings enhancing’ for the financial year ending March 31, 2023, has “been very pleasing”.
Alongside its trading update today, Liontrust announced the appointment of Emma Howard Boyd CBE as non-executive director, who is currently chairwoman of the government’s Environment Agency.
Her speciality sits firmly in sustainability these days, having spent 20 years at Jupiter Fund Management until 2014.
Currently, she is an ex officio board member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, interim chairwoman of the Green Finance Institute, an adviser to the Board of Trade, and a UN Global Ambassador for Race to Zero and Race to Resilience ahead of COP26.
Alastair Barbour, Liontrust’s non-executive chairman, said Howard Boyd’s public office, sustainability, ESG and financial services experience, paired with a focus on diversity and inclusion, will be “invaluable” to the Liontrust Sustainable Investment team’s growth as the group further integrates sustainability across the business.
“Emma's 25 years of working in financial services, including over 15 years as a director at Jupiter Asset Management, will also be a positive input into Liontrust's ongoing expansion of its investment capability and proposition,” he added.
ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com
