Brooks Macdonald pleased with third quarter performance

Brooks Macdonald said in an update on Thursday that continued positive net flows of £0.2bn in its third quarter were offset by weaker global markets.

The AIM-traded firm said “pre-existing macroeconomic difficulties” had been exacerbated by the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine in the three months ended 31 March, leading to a decrease of 3.9% in total funds under management in the period.

Funds under management ended the period at £16.7b, which was still 1.2% ahead of the group total at the start of the financial year on 30 June.

Group net flows continued positively at £0.2bn for the quarter, corresponding to annualised net flows of 4.1%, in line with the guidance given by the company at its interim results.

Positive BPS and MPS flows contributed to net inflows of £0.2bn, or 1.7%, for UKIM Discretionary, the board said.

MPS generated strong flows, with Platform MPS and BMIS continuing to build momentum and delivering combined annualised net flows of 39% in the quarter.

The company said its overall pipeline remained healthy, although as it previously guided, current market conditions were expected to affect near-term conversion times.

Underlying business performance, meanwhile, remained in line with Brooks Macdonald’s recent guidance, subject to further market movements.

“This has been a solid quarter for Brooks Macdonald, despite the volatile market backdrop driven by the war in Ukraine, with continuing positive net flows providing further evidence of the success of our strategy,” said chief executive officer Andrew Shepherd.

“As ever, this is primarily down to the commitment and high quality delivery of our people, who give me great confidence in the group's continued success.”

At 1002 BST, shares in Brooks Macdonald Group were down 2.48% at 2,423.3p.