Brooks Macdonald sees FUM increase 3 per cent

Edinburgh-based investment management firm Brooks Macdonald has today published its quarterly update showing its discretionary Funds Under Management (“FUM”) for the first quarter ended 30 September 2018 totalled £12.8 billion, an increase of 3.0 per cent over the prior quarter (30 June 2018: £12.4 billion).

This was driven by net new business (+£158m) and investment performance (+£211m).

As a comparison the MSCI WMA Private Investor Balanced Index increased by 1.0 per cent over the period. Within these total figures, UKIM maintained a healthy rate of organic growth and had total growth of 3.6% to £11.1 billion.

BMI experienced net outflows, following the departure of one of its client-facing teams, as described in the FY 2018 full year results statement, and closing FUM was down 1.1 per cent to £1.7 billion.

Year-on-year as at 30 September 2018, FUM increased by 16.4 per cent (30 September 2017: £11.0 billion).

Caroline Connellan, chief executive of Brooks Macdonald said: “We have maintained positive momentum in our UK business over the first quarter, with good organic growth despite softer client sentiment in light of the current macroeconomic environment. “We were also pleased to start the new financial year with the opening of our East Anglia office in Bury St. Edmunds and the launch of our Responsible Investment Service. “The ongoing strength of our investment performance has been particularly pleasing, driven by our Centralised Investment Process and the expertise within our teams. High quality active investment management is of particular importance in what continue to be difficult market conditions and we remain focussed on continuing to meet our clients’ and advisers’ expectations.”