Quilter pre-tax profits rise but AUMA decline in first half

Quilter - formerly Old Mutual Wealth Management - reported a decline in first-half assets under management and administration on Wednesday, but a rise in profits.

In the six months to 30 June, AUMA fell to 12% from the end of December 2021 to £98.7bn, mainly due to adverse market movements of £14.5bn. Still, Quilter said flat revenues and cost discipline drove a 9% jump in adjusted pre-tax profit to £61m.

IFRS pre-tax profit came in at £182m compared to a loss of £21m in H1 2021, but this was largely driven by tax credits.

Quilter Investment Platform generated net inflows of £1.6bn, down from £1.8bn in the same period a year earlier, while Quilter High Net Worth generated net inflows of £0.5bn, versus £0.4bn a year earlier.

Given "the uncertain outlook", Quilter deemed it appropriate to declare an unchanged interim dividend of 1.2p a share.

Chief executive Paul Feeney said: "Operating conditions in the first six months of 2022 have been challenging. Global equity markets have experienced one of the worst periods of negative performance in recent years and traditional 60:40 multi-asset portfolios have had their largest negative year-to-date return on record."

He said that in that context, the drop in AUMA "has been relatively resilient".

"Our focus remains on managing our business towards the targets set out at our Capital Markets Day last November, although an absence of an improvement in market levels and investor sentiment over the remainder of this year and 2023 may impact on the timing of delivery," Feeney added.