Premier Miton confident after tougher second quarter

Investment manager Premier Miton Group reported a closing second-quarter assets under management of £11bn in an update on Friday, up from £10.6bn at the end of the prior quarter.

The AIM-traded firm said despite the increase in assets under management, it recorded net outflows of £40m for the three months ended 31 March, bringing the total net outflows for the financial year to date to £32m.

However, the company highlighted that it had continued to achieve strong relative investment performance, with 76% of its funds in the first or second quartile of their respective sectors since launch or fund manager tenure.

“We saw early signs of returning confidence amongst fund buyers in the latter stages of 2022, but this has not followed through into 2023 and the banking shocks that unfolded towards the end of the period have again dented risk appetite,” said chief executive officer Mike O'Shea.

“It appears from wider industry data that investors have continued to shun UK equities but have also been more wary on active European and Global equities.

“There has, however, been an uptick in demand for fixed income strategies where we are well placed to serve our clients.”

O'Shea said the company’s own experience broadly reflected that backdrop, with continued inflows into its fixed income, US equity and diversified multi asset funds, and outflows from its European and UK equity funds.

“We continue to invest in our business as part of our long-term growth strategy and we will be adding to our suite of dedicated responsible and sustainable funds with the launch of the Premier Miton Emerging Markets Sustainable Fund on 21 April.

“The fund will be managed by Fiona Manning and Will Scholes, who joined the group at the end of August 2022 from Abrdn.”

Premier Miton’s primary focus was to deliver strong long-term investment performance for investors, Mike O'Shea explained, noting that 76% of funds were in the first or second quartile of their respective sectors since launch or fund manager tenure.

“Despite the current headwinds, we continue to have a well-diversified portfolio of actively managed funds which will be attractive to new investors as and when confidence returns.”

At 1144 BST, shares in Premier Miton Group were down 1.49% at 99.5p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.