Neil Woodford and partner received £20m dividends amid crisis October 28, 2019 Former star stockpicker Neil Woodford and his business partner Craig Newman reportedly raked in dividends close to £20m in the last financial year as the crisis that would lead to the closure of their investment firm escalated. The figure, which covers the year to March 2019, is based on analysis by the Financial Times. Read [...]
Some of world’s biggest asset managers ‘paying lip service’ to ESG October 2, 2019 There is a “significant discrepancy” between the pledges made by the world’s 50 largest asset managers on environmental, social and governance (ESG) and the action managers have actually taken on these issues, new research has found. Although the vast majority of the world’s 50 biggest asset managers – who manage a combined $50.6 trillion (£41.3 [...]
Miton’s assets under management jump despite fund outflows September 23, 2019 Miton Group has reported an increase in assets under management (AGM) for the first half despite slipping back to net outflows, which the asset manager blamed on political uncertainty related to Brexit. The company reported an eight per cent increase in AUM, which were £4.7bn at the end of the first half. Read more: Hargreaves [...]
Some ‘fossil fuel free’ funds have stakes in coal companies, research finds September 19, 2019 Some listed funds marketed as climate-conscious in fact have exposure to fossil fuels, including two explicitly described as “fossil fuel free”, new analysis has found. Think tank Influencemap analysed data from 118 funds marketed with “an explicit climate theme”, with a collective $18bn (£14.4bn) in assets, and found that some had exposure to fossil fuels [...]
Asset Management Exchange announces new $1bn credit fund September 17, 2019 The Asset Management Exchange (AMX) investment platform has announced a new $1bn fund designed to deliver predictable cash flows with lower transaction costs. The Long Term Credit Fund will be run by AXA Investment Managers using a ‘buy and maintain’ credit strategy to build “a well-diversified, benchmark-agnostic, long-dated credit portfolio”, AMX said. Read more: Gresham [...]
Gresham House reports jump in assets under management September 16, 2019 Gresham House has reported an 8.1 per cent increase in assets under management (AUM) for the first half of 2019, which the asset manager said was driven by an increase in organic growth, pushing its income up over 200 per cent. The specialist alternative asset management firm had £2.5bn AUM at the end of June, [...]
Brooks Macdonald ‘reinforcing foundations’ as it reports funds and profit growth September 12, 2019 Wealth management firm Brooks Macdonald has reported full-year growth exceeding expectations, in a rare glimmer of light for a sector that has been struggling to stem the flow of client outflows. The company reported a profit before tax of £21m for the year ending 30 June, an 11.8 per cent increase on the previous year. [...]
Political turbulence hits investment industry as assets under management flatline September 12, 2019 Ongoing political and economic uncertainty took a toll on the UK’s investment management industry last year, with assets under management (AUM) remaining stagnant. Although the UK managed to retain its ranking as the second largest investment management hub in the world – behind the US – the total amount of AUM by Investment Association (IA) [...]
Woodford loses £43.5m in fire sale from frozen fund September 11, 2019 Beleaguered stock picker Neil Woodford has lost at least £43.5m selling off stocks from his frozen Equity Income Fund, despite having assured investors that the suspension would limit pressure to offload assets at reduced prices. Read more: Woodford crisis wipes £36m off Kent County Council’s stake in flagship fund Woodford lost money on eight out [...]
Investors engaged with environmental and governance issues, but audit and trust lag behind September 10, 2019 The UK’s largest investors are most concerned about environmental and corporate governance issues in the companies they invest in, but need to “step up” in other areas, new research has found. Audit, corporate reporting, trust, and reputation were all identified as areas where the UK’s top asset managers and owners have been “less engaged” in [...]