Q1 Updates: Charles Stanley YOY Assets Dip To £23.8bn Despite £200m Inflows

Yet total assets suffered a 4.4% drop on the previous quarter's FuMA of £24.9bn, and was 0.8% lower than the comparable year-on-year figure, which was £24bn at 31 March 2017, attributed to a "general decline in equity market values". 

The group said discretionary funds rose 7.9% over the year to £12.3bn, while Charles Stanley Direct received 17.5% inflows over the 12-month period.

Paul Abberley, Charles Stanley chief executive, said: "As we enter our new financial year, our focus remains on growing our higher-margin assets.  

"We also intend to build scale in our execution-only platform and invest in our network of financial planners and distribution capabilities.  Concurrently, we continue to work on improving productivity and enhance operational efficiency."

BlackRock

BlackRock has reported $55bn in quarterly inflows, including $35bn into its iShares ETF range, in its Q1 results. 

The firm said it saw a 16% year-on-year growth in revenue from $3bn to $3.6bn driven by base fees, technology and risk management revenue. 

Retail net inflows were $16.7bn, including $10bn into fixed income funds and $4.2bn into index mutual funds and international active equities. Multi-asset inflows were $2bn. 

Looking at the iShares ETF range, the firm saw inflows of $34.6bn with the majority going into the US and international equities.

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Laurence Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, said: "iShares saw quarterly net inflows of $35bn as clients continued to use iShares at the core of their portfolios to drive active returns and as simple, efficient tools to manage risk exposure amid market volatility.

"In a challenging environment, BlackRock continued to perform well. Building on a strong start to 2018, we remain committed to investing for growth and delivering the benefits of our scale to both clients and shareholders."

Polar Capital 

Polar Capital has said inflow momentum continued into the first quarter of 2018, where the firm saw £525m of net inflows. 

Assets under management at the firm topped £12bn during the period, an increase of 29% from the £9.3bn reported at the end of March 2017.

The group said "the momentum of net inflows over the past quarters has continued across a broad range of fund strategies", with long-only funds seeing £1.7bn of flows and alternatives £290m, bringing total inflows for the year to over £1.9bn.

Gavin Rochussen, chief executive, commented: "As markets have become more volatile in the most recent quarter, Polar Capital's specialist actively managed funds have performed in line with expectations. 

"Polar Capital is well placed to continue performing for its clients in what is likely to be a more volatile environment going forward."

Liontrust

Liontrust Asset Management has reported an increase of £4bn in AUM over the 12 months to 31 March 2018 in its first quarterly trading update of the year.

Assets under management were £10.5bn at the end of Q1, up 61% from 31 March 2017 when AUM stood at £6.5bn.

During Q1 2018 the group saw net inflows of £255m, up from £200m in Q1 2017, with inflows for the financial year to 31 March reaching £1bn, over double the inflows seen the previous year of £482m.

Liontrust said 2017 was a "transformational" year that saw the acquisition of its sustainable investment team, which has in turn seen its own AUM increase by £500m.

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Chief executive John Ions said: "This has positioned us not only with critical mass but a fantastic track record from a long-established team. The demand for sustainable investing continues to increase and we are well positioned to benefit from this."

Meanwhile, the appointment of bond duo David Roberts and Phil Milburn from Kames Capital and Donald Phillips from Baillie Gifford has strengthened the group's fixed income capabilities as well as its offering as the group prepares to launch its Strategic Bond fund this week.   

"Our commitment to active management, driven by strong investment processes, has never been more important as the passive versus active debate continues to divide investors," Ions added.

"The asset management industry is under immense scrutiny from both regulators and, more importantly, investors. This is a time of great opportunity, however, and the successful companies will offer strong long-term performance in line with client expectations combined with first class service and communication. 

"By continuing to focus on these core objectives, we can engender trust, retain investor loyalty and look forward with confidence."

Premier

Premier Asset Management has seen its 20th consecutive quarter of net inflows amid changes to the product range and the launch of a digital portal for advisers.

The firm attracted net inflows of £175m in the three months to 31 March 2018, slightly higher than the £170m reported the year before, bringing total net flows to £411m over the six months to end of March and £847m on a 12-month rolling basis.

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CEO Mike O'Shea said Premier has made "solid progress" on flows "despite a more difficult market environment in recent months, and good relative investment performance after all fund charges".

The firm's AUM surpassed £6bn for the first time at the end of September 2017, when net inflows of £205m brought total assets to £6.1bn. This figure has since grown to £6.4bn.

The group pointed to its revamped Optimum Income fund, which has a new target yield of 7% p.a. and  new co-fund management team, while Premier also launched PremierConnect in March, a new digital portal designed to assist financial advisers investing directly in Premier's funds on behalf of their clients.