Brooks Macdonald's chief executive has said the turning point for the business in terms of numbers was the first half of 2021.
In its annual results out today (September 16), Brooks Macdonald reported group funds under management had reached a “record level” of £16.5bn at the end of June 2021, up 20.3 per cent on the same period last year.
Pre-tax profits were up 33 per cent, from £23m to £30.6m, while revenue was up 8.8 per cent, from £108.6m to £118.2m.
This comes after Brooks reported £261m net outflows in October as investors withdrew cash from all of its services except its international proposition.
It followed a rocky financial year to June 2020 in which investors pulled £774m of cash from both its discretionary and funds arms.
Speaking to FTAdviser this morning, newly-appointed chief executive Andrew Shepherd said he was “fortunate” to deliver the set of results, just four months in and on the firm’s 30th anniversary month.
He said: “There's a turning point in the actual numbers, which is in the first half of this year, but I think that probably doesn't tell the true story.
"It's been a number of years of hard work of putting in place the necessary foundations for us to grow, putting in place the right product set, building the culture of the business and the right people to be able to deliver.”
The firm reported assets of £15.5bn at the end of December 2020, up from £13.7bn in June 2020 and £13.1bn in December 2019.
Shepherd said: “I'm not sure I can put an actual date on it but we have seen a lot of changes in the marketplace over the last decade, and I've been here for nearly 20 years now and working with intermediaries in the UK for 20 years and you will be well aware that RDR changed everything.
“But in the eight years since RDR, the requirements of the intermediary space have changed significantly as well and we've had to change with it.”
Shepherd said the product suite it has been building for the last few years was also generating traction.
“It’s taken effort, developing ESG solutions, developing other bespoke solutions for clients, ensuring our model solutions through MPS and particularly now MPS on platforms, was fit for purpose,” he said.
“This stuff doesn't happen overnight and so yes, we turned a corner and momentum is behind us and in that last year, in each of the four quarters we improved net flow position, and at the start of this year it's looking pretty good as well.
“But that's all part of the journey, we've got a long way to go and digital transformation is part of that, making sure that we continue building the relationships that we've got, and through individual relationships but also corporate relationships through our B2B investment solutions service.
"All of these things create momentum, and we've got that momentum now which is a happy place to be.”
