Brooks Macdonald funds arm fails to turn a profit 'as expected'

Will improve profitability over medium term

A trading update from Brooks Macdonald said funds under management had grown 6.7% to £7.8bn in the final three months of 2015 but the group's funds arm is not yet profitable, as previously expected.

The wealth manager said in Q1 last year it expected its funds business to turn a profit for the first time in 2015-16, but the latest update said a number of factors had prevented this. Profits were affected by the faster than expected pace of conversion of advisory clients being moved to discretionary mandates in Brooks Macdonald International. Also, there were "exceptional costs" in relation to two specialist funds. The firm said while moving clients from advisory to discretionary mandates had affected profitability for this financial year, it would be a positive over the medium ...