Investors pulled £401mn from Premier Miton's funds in the six months to March 31, in what the group’s chief executive called a “challenging period”.
The redemptions made up 2 per cent of group’s assets under management, the group said today (May 27).
Chief executive Mike O’Shea said recent geopolitical events and inflation concerns had led to “additional uncertainty” for Premier Miton’s clients.
“As a result we have seen a much tougher environment for UK retail fund flows across the industry and we have not been immune to this," he said.
Some £279mn was withdrawn from the group’s equity funds, £159mn from its multi-asset funds and £101mn from its investment trusts.
But Premier Miton’s fixed income funds saw £135mn in net investment.
Assets under management fell 8 per cent to £12.8bn, with negative market returns seen of £683mn.
The company posted net revenue of £43.7mn, up from the £38.5mn seen a year previously. Pre-tax profit was £9.9mn, and the group has £36mn in cash.
O’Shea said the business remained strong with good cash reserves and a diversified portfolio.
"We are continuing to develop our business by adding new investment capabilities and through developing new distribution channels for our funds," he said.
He added that over the long-term the implications of current events remained unclear, with investors pondering issues such as energy security, global supply chains, energy transition, increased defence spending and the end of quantitative easing.
Above all, he said, a generation of investors had not had to worry about investing in an inflationary era.
“Irrespective of whether these issues turn out to be permanent or more transitory in nature, they will create opportunities for genuinely active managers who have the courage of their convictions to run long term, focused portfolios,” he added.
“We expect strong demand for clearly differentiated, high performing, actively and responsibly managed investment products as investors recognise their investments have to work harder to achieve their financial objectives.”
Earlier this year, Premier Miton pulled out of the race to buy River & Mercantile, which was eventually acquired by AssetCo.
In today's announcement O’Shea said the group would continue to look at possible strategic acquisitions where it thought they could “accelerate this growth path and create value for our shareholders”.
sally.hickey@ft.com
