Companies and economies around the world continued to feel the effects of the coronavirus-enforced lockdowns during the second half of 2020. Investment Week reports on how they have done since then.
Tatton Asset Management
Tatton Asset Management (Tatton AM) has seen an increase in its assets under management (AUM) bringing the group's total to £7.8bn, up 17.4% from its 31 March 2020 figure of £6.6bn.
This figure was supported by net new inflows at the group's investment management business Tatton of £328m, with the remaining balance built by market returns.
Adjusted operating profit was up 21.9% across the group, to £5m, provided entirely by Tatton, while the group's independent financial advisor (IFA) support services business Paradigm dented the this with a figure 16.8% lower than last year.
Paradigm also limited the group's overall revenues, falling 10% on last year's results to £2.3m, although Tatton, which accounts for 79% of group revenue, grew 21.2% to £8.5m, providing an overall group revenue increase of 12.6%.
Adjusted fully diluted earnings per share also grew, up 21.5% to 6.55p, while the group was also able to provide an interim dividend of 3.5p, up 9.4%.
Over the six months ending 30 September 2020, Tatton AM pursued a potential acquisition of a business which "would have been both material and complementary to Tatton's portfolio of products", but was unsuccessful in its bid and cost the firm £219,000 in fees.
Tatton AM has also put in place a lending facility, providing access of up to £30m of funds to support its ambition to grow "both organically and through acquisition".
Paul Hogarth, CEO of Tatton AM, said: "I am delighted to confirm that despite the exceptional circumstances of the last six months we have delivered a resilient performance with strong growth in revenue, profits and margins and remain on track to meet market expectations in FY 2021.
"2020 has been a testing time for all businesses and I would like to thank our colleagues for their incredible dedication and contribution during this time and our IFAs for their continued support and trust.
"In response to changing conditions, it has been necessary to adapt the way we interact with our firms over the last six months. We have adjusted our approach from a predominantly in-person contact model to include web-based engagement, through a suite of online meetings and interactions led by the IFAs own business model and capability.
"As we move into the second half of the financial year, we recognise that there are headwinds in our industry but we remain enthused by the exciting opportunities that exist for the business and are optimistic regarding the prospects for the group."
Ninety One
Ninety One saw assets under management (AUM) increase 15% to £119bn and reported a rise in pre-tax profits for the six months to 30 September 2020, despite clocking up net outflows of £0.3bn during the period.
The company said it experienced its first half-yearly outflows since the second half of the 2017 financial year, largely due to the loss of a few large institutional mandates as a result of performance.
While AUM rose in the first half of 2020 supported by "positive market movements", Ninety One said that average AUM decreased by 3%.
It announced higher pre-tax profit in its first-half results, up 3% to £94.8m, while net revenue fell 1% to £297.3m, although it said performance fees increased "substantially" to £18m.
By asset class, the largest generator of net inflows was fixed income, where corporate cash strategies received significant inflows, while equities experienced overall net outflows.
It said: "This asset class benefited from significant net inflows into regional strategies, which were countered by large institutional net outflows from a few global strategies. The outflows from multi-asset were largely driven by outflows from growth strategies."
The company declared an interim dividend of 5.9p per share.
Hendrik du Toit, chief executive of Ninety One, said: "Although aggregate investment performance has improved, flows were impacted by a few large mandate losses relating to past performance.
"The initial ‘risk-off' approach from clients in the advisor channel and lower than usual levels of pipeline visibility in parts of the institutional market affected new business momentum."
He added: "We believe in the considerable long-term opportunity for Ninety One to grow organically. Our strategy is clear and our focus remains on execution."
