Portfolio Adviser - Portfolio Adviser Magazine December 2021
Companies & markets
2021-12-04 12:25:44
COMPANIES ROUND-UP
Investment industry
● Brewin Dolphin’s total funds under management increased by 19.5% in the year to the end of September, thanks to strong net flows and performance. The wealth manager’s annual results revealed total funds at £56.9bn at the end of September, up from £47.6bn the year before. This figure was bolstered by £2.1bn of net flows across the business and £7.1bn of investment performance. Performance during the year was 14.9% compared with the MSCI Pimfa Private Investor Balanced Index’s 13.6%. Total discretionary funds grew by 20.9% to £49.8bn, with net flows of £1.9bn, compared with £900m the year before.
● Fund buyers believe Assetco, chaired by Martin Gilbert, is a better home for River and Mercantile than Premier Miton due to a stronger potential overlap in strategies between the latter two, particularly UK funds. River and Mercantile is in the middle of a bidding war between Premier Miton and Assetco after both asset groups confirmed they had approached the firm regarding an acquisition. Chelsea Financial Services managing director Darius McDermott said Premier Miton already has similar UK strategies to River and Mercantile while AJ Bell head of active strategies Ryan Hughes noted if the two groups merged there would be six dierent funds in the UK All Companies sector with a Premier Miton/River and Mercantile badge.
● Demand for Polar Capital’s ‘sustainable’ emerging market and healthcare vehicles have helped the fund group deliver net inflows over its interim period. Polar ended the six months to 30 September with £23.4bn in assets under management (AUM), up 12% from £20.9bn at the end of March. By mid-November that had grown to £25bn. The £2.5bn bump in AUM was chiefly driven by market movements and fund performance, which added £1.8bn to the total, while net inflows contributed £690m. Polar’s ‘sustainability-oriented’ Emerging Markets Stars and Asian Stars funds were the biggest beneficiaries of new client money, attracting £366m and £70m, respectively.
● Ninety One has returned to net inflows in the six months to September as intermediaries’ risk appetite revved up. The fund group posted net inflows of £3.9bn, bouncing back from £332m worth of net redemptions in the same period last year. Alongside £5.2bn of positive market and FX movements, this helped boost AUM to a record £140bn, a 7% increase from £130.9bn at the end of March 2021. Ninety One said a “competitive” investment performance, relevant product oerings and “a stable team” was responsible for its record-smashing interim.
MONTH IN PREVIEW
November
● Babcock International has interim results on 7 December before Berkeley Group on 8 December and DS Smith on 9 December.
● Nexus Infrastructure reports final results on 10 December.
● Chemring Group reports final results on 14 December while Purplebricks has interims on the same day.
● The Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Fund delivers interim results on 24 December.
● Fidelity’s AGM is on 14 December before Kingswood’s on 15 December.
● Currys has interim results on 15 December.
SELECTED MARKETS
The FTSE 100 was down by 2.9% – the biggest fall since June 2020 on the discovery of the Omicron Covid variant.
The S&P 500 gained 4% as the Omicron variant spooked markets less than previous variants.
MSCI EM Index fell 2.4% on fears of high global inflation, a Chinese slowdown and US tightening rumours.
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