Barclays starts Brewin Dolphin, Rathbones at 'overweight'

Barclays initiated coverage of UK wealth managers Brewin Dolphin and Rathbone Brothers on Tuesday as it took a positive stance on the sector.

The bank said wealth managers offer various attractive characteristics, including structural growth, long asset lives, and reliable capital return.

"We believe structural trends should be supplemented by cyclical tailwinds, with pent-up demand sustaining the uptick in flows seen in H1 2021," it said.

"Valuations remain reasonable despite strong share price performance year-to-date, and we see scope for further earnings upgrades with catalysts later this year."

Barclays started Brewin Dolphin and Rathbone Brothers at ‘overweight’ with price targets of 430p and 2,500p, respectively, The bank downgraded Quilter to ‘underweight’ from ‘equalweight’ and cut the price target to 130p from 155p "on stock-specific concerns".