Schroders assets jump as inflows top £8.4bn
Asset manager Schroders notched a jump in the value of its managed assets in the first half of the year as strong inflows helped buck sharp falls in equity and bond markets.
Assets under management jumped to £773.4bn, up from £766.7bn at the full year last year, which was buoyed by the acquisition of River and Mercantile’s solutions division, Greencoat Capital and Cairn Real Estate, adding £51.9bn in total.
Inflows meanwhile hit £8.4bn, helping soften the blow of volatile markets in the first six months of the year which dented total assets by £87.9bn.
Chief executive Peter Harrison said the firm had showed resilience in the first half of the year as and “weathered difficult market conditions”.
“The fact that we can report positive net new business in this period is testament to this,” he said in a statement today.
“Our investment in sustainability has been a critical contributor to our success. It was particularly evident in our mutual fund business where, despite a stock market sell-off, our equity funds saw positive client inflows.”
The firm’s mutual funds and institutional offer shed investors however, with net outflows of £2.9bn and £7.6bn, respectively.
Investment performance had “remained strong” in the face of the volatility that has battered markets in 2022, bosses said, as some 77 per cent of client assets outperformed their benchmark over three years despite the market sell causing a dip in short term performance.
Pre-tax profits fell 14 per cent year on year but beat analysts’ consensus by two per cent.
Shares in the firm surged nearly fiver per cent this morning before settling to trade up around three per cent.