Discretionary management group Brooks Macdonald has announced a boost in pre-tax profits for the second half of 2018, taking its revenue to £52m.
The firm's six-month results to December 31 2018, showed an underlying profit before tax of £9m, up from £8.3m in the half year ended December 31 2017.
Revenue was up 7.7 per cent when compared with the first half of 2018.
Total discretionary funds under management reached £11.9bn, up from £11.7bn for the same period a year earlier, but a 4.5 per cent over the year.
According to Brooks Macdonald, the fall in funds under management was driven by investment performance, which was down £799m, but partly offset by net new business of £241m.
Caroline Connellan, chief executive of Brooks Macdonald, said: "We delivered a good first half with growth in underlying profit against a backdrop of difficult market conditions and weaker client sentiment, caused by macroeconomic and political uncertainty.
"December in particular was a challenging month but our UK investment management business has maintained a good level of net new business over the period, reflecting the strength of our client and adviser relationships.
"In January, we announced measures to drive efficiency and effectiveness in the business, streamlining processes, building a scalable operating model and making Brooks Macdonald easier to do business with.
"These changes will deliver material cost savings, which we will start to benefit from in the second
half, supporting medium-term margin improvement.
"The fundamental opportunity for our business remains strong and we continue to invest in our offering – for example, our recent new product and service launches and our new client portal, due to go live later this year.
"I am pleased by the progress we have made to reinforce the foundations of our business and we are now increasingly shifting our focus to driving sustainable and value-enhancing growth."
Brooks Macdonald also announced that the firm had reached an agreement in principle with the new directors of the former Spearpoint business, in which the discretionary management firm made a goodwill offer of £3.4m.
The new directors of the Dublin-based fund have confirmed they will call an extraordinary general meeting to seek shareholder approval.
More than 80 per cent of goodwill offers made to discretionary portfolio clients were accepted at December 31 2018, accounting for 74 per cent of the value, Brooks Macdonald stated.
Meanwhile, Alan Carruthers takes up his new role as chairman today, replacing Christopher Knight who has held the position since the group's admission to Aim in 2005.
Mr Carruthers' appointment was announced in February.
Jenny Turton is a freelance journalist
