Wealth management firm Mattioli Woods has stood by its decision to not apply any fee increases until at least June as it passes £10bn of assets under management.
In a trading update, published this morning (January 7), Mattioli Woods said as clients continue to be impacted by Covid-19 it will keep its commitment to not raise fees for the rest of the financial year, which ends on May 31.
Ian Mattioli, chief executive of Mattioli Woods, said: “Clients quite rightly remain cautious of the prevailing economic and investment conditions, which reduced activity in the first half.
“We recognise that a significant number of our clients continue to be impacted by the challenging economic conditions and remain sympathetic to their needs.
“Accordingly, we have resolved to maintain our previously announced position not to alter any of our fee structures or implement any fee increases for the remainder of this financial year.”
The firm has also hit a “key milestone” with total client assets of Mattioli Woods and its associate, Amati Global Investors Limited, exceeding £10bn.
Mr Mattioli said: “The first six months of this financial year saw a continuation of the economic and political uncertainty that was a feature for most of 2020.
“Throughout the period we proactively balanced securing good financial outcomes for our clients with ensuring the long-term sustainability of our business, remaining true to our purpose of putting clients first, which has been consistent throughout our 30 years of trading, and I am pleased to report further progress towards our ambitious medium term goals with total client assets now exceeding £10.6bn.”
Despite this, revenue is slightly down due to the impact of weaker financial markets and lower fee-based revenues.
Bonus payments
Mr Mattioli also said the firm had started paying interim bonuses after it stopped them during the first lockdown.
FTAdviser reported in July that the firm had saved £150,000 after all directors reduced their basic salary in April, with a further £2.7m in cost savings after the firm decided to not pay any staff bonuses for the current financial year.
Mr Mattioli said: “The early, decisive actions taken to protect our clients and staff through the pandemic have ensured our business remains fully operational whilst the majority of our employees continue to work remotely.
“This, combined with the active management of fixed and discretionary costs, enabled us to achieve further cost savings and margin improvement in the first half, while restoring interim bonus payments to the majority of our employees.”
Earlier this week (January 5), Mattioli Woods appointed three non-executive directors as it continued to push forward with its “ambitious” growth plans.
Former BNP Paribas UK chief executive, David Kiddie, and former Melton Mowbray Building Society chief executive, Martin Reason, have joined the firm.
In addition, former HSBC managing director Edward Knapp will also become chair of the firm’s risk and compliance committee.
Mr Mattioli said: "Having further strengthened our executive and senior management teams during the first half, we plan to build on the progress already achieved over the remainder of this financial year.
“Our level of new business enquiries has increased both in volume and average value compared to the same period last year, and we have successfully adopted new ways of working in response to the pandemic.
“We anticipate greater client activity and increasing inflows into our bespoke investment services in the second half of this year.”
Mattioli Woods has been active in its push for growth over the past few years, taking part in a number of deals in the acquisitions space.
At the end of 2019 it acquired Glasgow-based Turris Partnership in a deal worth up to £1.6m.
Earlier this year (March 2020), it acquired private client adviser and asset manager Hurley Partners in a deal worth up to £25.6m.
amy.austin@ft.com
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