Rathbone Brothers annual funds rise to £50bn
Investment management firm Rathbone Brothers reached a significant milestone in reaching £50.4bn in total funds under management and administration.
The figures
Rathbone’s total funds under management and administration stood at £50.4bn, a 14 per cent inrease on the £44.1bn seen at the end of 2018.
Total funds in Rathbone’s investment management unit grew 12 per cent to £43bn, while its unit trusts unit recorded 32 per cent growth in funds to £7.4bn.
Underlying pretax profit fell to £88.7m from £91.6m as expenses increased.
The wealth manager has increased its final dividend by 7.1 per cent to 45p, taking its total dividend for the year to 70p.
Why it’s interesting
Profit fell from £61.3m in 2018 to £39.7m which Rathbone said reflects costs associated with the acquisition of Speirs & Jeffrey.
Rathbone said a Financial Services Compensation Scheme charge of £4,5m for the year, up from £2.8m, was considerable and expects the change to increase further by up to 45 per cent in 2020.
Shares were up 1.23 per cent to 1,982p.
What Rathbone Brothers said
Chairman Mark Nicholls said:
2019 may well be remembered for political reasons more than any other, but investment markets finished the end of the year strongly. Our own funds under management and administration increased 14.3% to £50.4 billion, up from £44.1 billion on 31 December 2018, as we continued to focus on providing a quality service to our clients and worked hard to bring Speirs & Jeffrey fully into Rathbones.
Following the appointment of Paul Stockton as chief executive in May, we took the opportunity to refocus our strategic direction. Our updated strategy both recognises a need to invest in our business in the shorter term and also builds upon our strengths as we look to grow and develop over the coming years.
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