Investing
Buxton’s legacy? Investors pulled £1bn out of Schroders in June
Investors pulled more than a £1bn out of fund group Schroders in June, following a market sell-off and the departure of star manager Richard Buxton.
The firm saw inflows of £5.6bn in the first three months of the year, offset by a £1.1bn outflow in the second quarter, all of which occurred in June, the group said.
Buxton’s former fund, UK Alpha Plus, has seen assets dwindle from £3.6bn since news of the manager’s departure.
The fund has shed £1.5bn in assets since mid-March to stand at £2.1bn in asset under management (AUM) as of 26 July, according to Morningstar, despite strong performance over that period.
A large chunk of these assets seem to have followed Buxton (pictured) to Old Mutual Global Investors, with his new UK Alpha fund already more than £500m in size. He took up his new post in June.
Meanwhile, Schroders has hiked its interim dividend and said it is positive about its prospects following two major acquisitions.The asset manager announced a 23% rise in its interim dividend to 16p per share.
Schroders reported pre-tax profit up 25% to £221.7m in the group as a whole, or 29% including exceptional items, while the asset management arm saw profits grow from £175.2m in the first half of 2012 to £212.1m.
The private banking business saw a slight increase in pre-tax profits from £10.4m to £10.6m.
Group AUM stood at £235.7bn at the end of June, including £6.6bn from the acquisition of STW.
The deal to acquire Cazenove Capital completed in July. The asset manager has £20.1bn under management, including £13.2bn in wealth management and £6.9bn in its funds business. The addition of these assets will appear in Schroders’ Q3 results.
Chief executive Michael Dobson said: “We are pleased with these strong results and the overall performance of the firm, reflecting the benefits of our diverse, global business. Against a volatile background, we delivered competitive performance for clients, £4.5bn of net new business and a 29% increase in profit.
“We are confident that the additions of Cazenove Capital in the UK and STW Fixed Income in the US will strengthen our offerings for clients and create value for shareholders.
“We continue to see good long-term growth prospects and this is reflected in the 23% increase in our interim dividend.”
Year to date, the asset manager’s shares are up almost 50% to trade at £25.01. This morning they were trading 5.5% lower at £23.64.
