Softer sentiment sees AuM fall at Premier Miton

Premier Miton Group reported £12.8bn in closing assets under management at the end of its second quarter on Friday, down from £13.9bn three months earlier.

The AIM-traded firm recorded £216m of net outflows from open-ended funds for the quarter ended 31 March, taking net outflows for the financial year to date to £303m.

It said there were positive net flows in fixed income funds and diversified multi-asset funds, adding that a total of 491 products, managed by 17 investment teams, were in operation at the end of the period.

The company reported a “strong relative investment performance”, with 87% of assets under management and 77% of funds in the first or second quartile of their respective sectors since manager inception.

“Geopolitical events created a challenging period for markets and this was reflected in the group's assets under management ending the quarter at £12.8bn,” said chief executive officer Mike O'Shea.

“This represents a fall of 8% on the opening position for the financial year.

“Inevitably, investors have been cautious about committing to new investments during this period of uncertainty.”

O'Shea said the £216m in net outflows from its managed open-ended funds in the quarter were primarily from UK equity and the multi-asset multi-manager funds, reflecting softer client sentiment.

He said the outflows were partially offset by inflows into the company’s fixed income funds, and the diversified multi-asset funds.

“The strength of our business platform, the quality and performance of our investment teams and our clear proposition built on genuine active management mean that, despite the challenging economic conditions, we are well positioned for the future.

“As part of our long-term growth strategy, we continue to invest in our investment and client platform.

“This has included hiring new teams and launching new funds.”

The new funds included Premier Miton’s current range of six dedicated responsible and sustainable funds, Mike O'Shea said, including the launch in March of its Premier Miton Diversified Sustainable Growth Fund - its first dedicated responsible and sustainable multi-asset fund.

“During the period we announced the development of a new institutional distribution channel, focused on building relationships with institutional investors and investment consultants to enable growth in assets under management from an additional client base.

“The long-term investment market implications of current events remain unclear, including the recovery pathway from the coronavirus pandemic, the implications of rising interest rates, inflation and the end of quantitative easing, and wider geopolitical uncertainty,” O'Shea said.

“Nevertheless, we strongly believe that the current environment will create good long-term opportunities for our active fund managers to deliver value for investors and growth for our business.”

At 1420 BST, shares in Premier Miton Group were down 2.36% at 145p.