Liontrust: Investors pull £2bn in three months – but pre tax profits set to beat expectations
Liontrust said it had been a “challenging” year today as it reported heavy outflows in the final quarter and a tumble in its managed assets.
The FTSE 250 investor said its managed assets had tumbled 3.6 per cent to £31.4bn in the year, while investors had pulled £4.8bn out of its funds. In the three months to March, Liontrust said net outflows had topped £2bn.
Bosses at the asset manager said the pre-tax profits are set to beat expectations however and come in “not less than £86m” due to a jump in fees for the firm.
“It has been a challenging year for Liontrust in terms of net outflows and mixed performance for our funds,” said Liontrust chief John Ions.
“But this has to be set against a backdrop of the industry in aggregate suffering UK retail net outflows in 10 out of the 12 months last year, according to the Investment Association. Despite these headwinds, Liontrust has delivered impressive financial performance.”
Liontrust said an uptick in profits had been driven primarily by “stronger than expected” performance fee revenues of at least of £17m across its Global Fundamental team, Cashflow team and Sustainable Investment teams. The Global Fundamental team alone contributed £11.9m, the firm said.
The results mark one year since Liontrust completed the acquisition of rival Majedie for £41m. Bosses said the Majedie had generated performance fees of £12m out of a total £17m for Liontrust as a whole.
Liontrust has been looking to strike again this year and yesterday confirmed it was in discussions to snap up a Swiss rival GAM, as the industry goes through a wave of consolidation amid turbulent market conditions.
Asset managers have been rocked by the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine and soaring inflation have roiled markets and spooked investors, leading to sharp falls in assets and heavy outflows for firms.