brewin blames outflows on switch

UK wealth management firm Brewin Dolphin saw outflows of £1.2bn in the nine months to 30 June, half of which it put down to the group’s change to a “transparent fee-based charging basis”.

brewin blames outflows on switch

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Overall the firm reported a 4.2% increase in total managed funds from 30 September 2011 until 30 June 2012, although the discretionary arm of the business was responsible for the whole rise.

Discretionary funds under management (FUM) jumped 10.3% from during the period, while advisory FUM fell 7.1% in the same nine months. 

The market performance of the respective departments made a marked difference, with Brewin’s discretionary arm adding £900m to its FUM because of positive market performance, while the advisory arm only saw a £200m increase through market movement.

Meanwhile, inflows into the discretionary service were ten times higher than those into advisory, with DFM inflows surging £1bn compared to only £100m of inflows into advisory.

The £1.2bn of outflows was split evenly between the two departments, with presumably the £600m clients took out of advisory the redemptions related to the fee-based change.

Brewins said the change to a fee-based system was also partly responsible for the drop in non-recurring income, down 17.9% year-on-year to £20,608 from £25,096.

"Recurring income now represents 67% of total income. This is partly due to the group moving towards a transparent fee-based model in accordance with our strategy, but also reflects a significant fall in the volume of trades in line with the market as a whole; volumes were down 26% in the first quarter of the year [starting 30 September], 11% in the second quarter and 17% in the third quarter,” it said.

Recurring income was up 20% year-on-year from £35,022 in the third quarter of 2011 to £42,013 in the same period this year.

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