17 January 2024

BROOKS MACDONALD GROUP PLC

Second Quarter FUM Announcement and Half Year Trading Update

"FUM up 4.3% in the quarter to £17.6 billion"

Brooks Macdonald Group plc ("Brooks Macdonald" or "the Group") today publishes an update on its Funds under Management and Advice ("FUM/A") for the second quarter of its financial year, the three months ended 31 December 2023.

Quarterly FUM/A update

During the quarter ended 31 December 2023, the Group delivered robust gross inflows at £0.6 billion, up 1.5% on the prior quarter to an annualised rate of 14.0%.  Gross outflows were elevated, particularly in BPS and Funds, reaching £0.7 billion for the quarter, driven by the prevailing backdrop of market volatility and higher interest rates continuing to affect client behaviour.

This resulted in overall net outflows for the quarter of £0.1 billion or 0.6%.

The net outflows were more than offset by positive investment performance in the quarter of 4.9% resulting in the Group's closing Funds Under Management ("FUM") increasing 4.3% to £17.6 billion (30 September 2023: £16.9 billion).

As at 31 December 2023, the Group had £5.2 billion Funds under Management or Advice ("FUM/A") with private clients who deal with the Group directly.  £4.4 billion related to portfolios in the Group's investment management and £0.8 billion to portfolios with third party investment managers.

Highlights for the quarter included:

·    Investment performance for the quarter was positive at 4.9%, in line with the benchmark MSCI PIMFA Private Investor Balanced Index which increased by 5.0% in the period;

·    Platform MPS, including the Group's B2B offering for financial advisers, BM Investment Solutions ("BMIS"), grew to £3.9 billion - an increase in the quarter of 7.3%, of which organic net flows contributed 3.3%;

·    BPS experienced net outflows in the quarter of £0.1 billion or 1.1%, as clients withdrew funds to repay debt or to hold higher cash balances;

·    Within UK BPS, the recently launched gilts offering generated net new business of 44.7% in the quarter, taking it to c.£0.2 billion FUM in its first year, meeting client demand for their portfolios to take advantage of higher interest rates while avoiding equity risk;

·    Total UKIM discretionary FUM increased by 5.0% over the quarter, primarily driven by the rally in markets seen in December 2023.

Half Year trading update

Trading performance in the first half was solid, with total FUM up 4.3%.  In parallel, the Group completed the organisational changes announced in October, delivering a full year cost saving of
c.£4 million.  The cost of the changes was within the previously notified £3 million, a non-recurring expense which the Group intends to exclude from its reported underlying profit.

Outlook

The Group expects momentum on gross inflows to continue across the product range in the second half, with the level of both gross outflows and the resulting full year net flows dependent in part on macroeconomic factors.

Following the organisational changes announced in October, the Group expects its full year underlying profit and underlying profit margin to be in line with market expectations.

Andrew Shepherd, CEO of Brooks Macdonald commented:

"I am pleased to report growth of 4.3% in the Group's FUM for the first half of the financial year.  This result is a testament to the expertise and hard work of our people who are committed to delivering on our purpose to 'realise ambitions and secure futures' for all our stakeholders.

"During a challenging period for both the economy and financial markets, we continued to see healthy demand across our range of products and services, with £0.6 billion of gross inflows during the second quarter. Pleasingly, this included 44.7% organic growth from our recently launched and fast-growing gilt portfolio service.

"These results reflect our capabilities as a Group to deliver what people value - the guidance and reassurance of trusted advice and robust long-term investment management.  Given those capabilities and the opportunities we can see ahead, I remain confident in our ability to deliver on the Group's ambitious growth strategy."

Notice of Half Year results

The Group intends to issue its preliminary statement of half year results for the period ended 31 December 2023 on Thursday 7 March 2024.

An analyst meeting will be held at 9.30am on Thursday, 7 March 2024.  Please contact Iona Biggart at FTI Consulting on 07971 989065 or e-mail [email protected] for further details.

Analysis of FUM net flows by service over the quarter

¹Capital-only index.

Analysis of FUM net flows by service over the half year

¹Capital-only index.

Analysis of FUM gross flows by service over the half year

Enquiries to:

Notes to editors

Brooks Macdonald Group plc, through its various subsidiaries, provides leading wealth management services in the UK and internationally. The Group, which was founded in 1991 and began trading on AIM in 2005, had discretionary Funds under Management of £17.6 billion as at 31 December 2023.

Brooks Macdonald offers outsourced discretionary investment management for intermediaries and advice-led integrated wealth management for private clients. The Group also acts as fund manager to a range of onshore and international funds.

The Group has fourteen offices across the UK and Crown Dependencies including London, Birmingham, East Anglia, Exeter, Leeds, Manchester, Nuneaton, Southampton, Tunbridge Wells, Scotland, Wales, Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man.

LEI: 213800WRDF8LB8MIEX37

www.brooksmacdonald.com / @BrooksMacdonald