Newly-enlarged asset management firm Premier Miton Group PLC (LON:PMI) said it had a “disappointing” first results following the merger, reporting net outflows as investors drag their feet over political uncertainty.
The hotly anticipated merger of Miton with Premier Asset Management was finally completed this month, which swelled the new group’s assets under management to £11.1bn, giving it a “significant footprint” in the UK wealth adviser and management market.
Premier Miton said that it totted up £233mln in net outflows over the year to the end of September, when positive inflows were reversed in the second half of the year as investors “stayed on the sidelines amid turbulent market and political conditions”.
Assets under management at Premier before the merger fell 4.5% to £6.5bn over the year, compared to the previous year.
Following the decline in assets, profit before tax fell 13.8% to £13.7mln for the year.
“General investor uncertainty and a lack of confidence to invest in stock market linked investments was reflected, for example, in high industry inflows into bond funds,” the asset manager said, but noting that this stock market aversion is “likely to be a shorter-term response to the current market climate as opposed to a secular trend”.
Seeing interest rates as likely to remain at “historically low levels for many years to come”, Premier Miton said this should encourage UK based investors to invest their money as opposed to leaving it to rot in a bank account.
“Although it is disappointing to have recorded net outflows for the year,” said the company, it remains “very optimistic” over the future of the merged group, saying there is an “exceptional strategic and commercial fit” between them.
Elsewhere, it added that its online advisers’ portal Connect, which allows them to hold and manage clients' investments in Premier funds, has advanced and is currently being trialled under a “soft launch program”, expecting it to roll out further in the course of the next year.
Broker Liberum said that “in a year that has been tough for many active fund managers, we see this as an impressive result,” describing the enlarged group as “better positioned” for the future thanks to complementary AUM and distribution networks.
Shares dipped 1% on Thursday morning trading, down at 167p after rallying to 185p on the merger earlier this month.