Rathbone Brothers hits record funds under management
Wealth manager Rathbone Brothers said total funds under management reached a record £49.2bn, an 11.6% rise in the six months to June 30, despite volatile investment markets.
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Inflows for the period rose to £2.9bn from £2.7bn as the first half of 2019 saw investment markets recover from a "difficult" end to 2018. Net organic outflows in the first half of the year totalled £0.1bn compared with net inflows of £0.4bn a year earlier.
"Given the ongoing backdrop of political uncertainty and global trade tensions, markets finished quite strongly," Rathbone said on Wednesday.
"We see weakened investor sentiment continuing over the shorter term, so we are generally positioning client portfolios accordingly. Our investment teams have performed well over the period but retain a healthy degree of caution for the second half."
Interim pre-tax profit before tax more than halved to £20m, reflecting a number of expected items, mainly in relation to the acquisition of Speirs & Jeffrey.
Basic earnings per share fell to 25.8p from 68.3p. The company lifted its interim dividend by 4.2% to 25p reflecting “confidence in our medium term prospects and the strength of our balance sheet”.
“Investment markets look likely to remain volatile in the second half but we continue to actively invest for future growth. The UK wealth industry continues to present positive opportunities and we retain a cautiously optimistic outlook,” the company said.