Tatton Asset Management upbeat on solid year of trading

Discretionary fund management and independent financial adviser specialist Tatton Asset Management reported a strong year of growth in a trading update on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded company reported record organic net inflows of 15.8% in a “challenging” environment for the 12 months ended 31 March, contributing to a performance in line with the board's expectations.

It said assets under management and influence increased 22.3% in the year to £13.87bn.

Tatton Investment Management also had a successful year, with the number of active firms increasing 16.5% to 869, supporting record organic net inflows of £1.79bn, an increase of 15.8% on assets under management at the start of the year.

The board said the second half saw net inflows of £0.89bn, maintaining the strong performance delivered in the first half of £0.91bn.

Tatton said those record inflows of £1.79bn represented a 40.5% increase on the prior year net inflows.

Additionally, the acquisition of 50% of the share capital of 8AM Global in August contributed assets under influence of £1.14bn - an increase from the £1bn at acquisition.

Market performance over the year reduced assets under management and influence by 3.5%, or £0.4bn.

Paradigm, another Tatton subsidiary, also performed well, with consulting member firms increasing to 431 and mortgage firms rising to 1,751.

The board said Paradigm Mortgages had a strong second half, with completions totaling £7.2bn, despite rising interest rates and continued global uncertainty.

That resulted in a record year for completions, which totaled £14.5bn, or a 9.8% increase on the prior year.

The group ended the year with cash on the balance sheet of £26.5m.

“This year we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the creation of Tatton, and during that period we have been at the forefront of the MPS market and continued to champion the IFA,” said chief executive officer Paul Hogarth.

“We have consistently grown, adding new firms and assets under management annually, resulting in this year being our strongest ever and I now believe the MPS market has reached a point where it has truly come of age.

“In addition to the £1.1bn of assets under influence acquired with 8AM in August, Tatton Investment Management delivered record organic net inflows of £1.8bn - a 40.5% increase on the prior year and a 71.5% increase over the average of the last five years”

Hogarth said it was “even more pleasing” that the firm carried the first half momentum into the second half of the year, ensuring it maintained consistent flows throughout the year as a whole.

“The market drivers remain unchanged and we will continue to invest to strengthen the team in order to take advantage of the sizable opportunity for further organic growth in the years ahead.

“Paradigm has also delivered a good year with involvement in record mortgage completions of £14.5 billion despite a much more difficult market in the second half of the year.

“We look forward with confidence as we make further progress and continue to deliver against our strategic objectives.”

Tatton said it would release its audited final results for the year ended 31 March on 13 June.

At 1129 BST, shares in Tatton Asset Management were down 1% at 445.5p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.