Brooks Macdonald pledges ‘simpler’ business as it offloads international arm for £50m
Money manager Brooks Macdonald has said it would simplify its business and “reignite growth” as it offloaded its international arm to Canaccord Genuity for £50m.
In its annual results for the year to June 2024, the London-listed wealth management outfit said its funds under management had risen seven per cent to £18bn despite shedding some £600m from its funds in that period, down from £800m last year.
Its pre-tax profit also bumped 12.5 per cent to £34.1m on the back of a cost-cutting and streamlining push, which included the offloading its international business to to Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management for £50.85m.
New chief executive Andrea Montague, who is taking over the reins next month, said the company would now focus on realigning its strategy in the months ahead.
“To be the best, we know there is more we can do,” she said in a statement. “Today we are redefining our strategy to reignite growth with a renewed focus on excellent client service, broadening and deepening our client reach and exploring targeted opportunities to drive scale and efficiencies.
“We are also simplifying the group by announcing the sale of our International business for a total consideration of up to £50.85m.”
Outgoing boss Andrew Shepherd said: “Despite the challenging market conditions, we have delivered good results, with our funds under management growing to £18bn and having maintained strong underlying profit margins.”
The numbers come after a tricky year for London’s wealth managers as investors have grown wary of fees at bigger firms like St James Place and sweeping regulatory changes has ramped up costs.
Revenue at the firm were £128.3m up 3.6 per cent driven by increased transactional and FX income.