Liontrust Asset Management Final Results 2022

22 June 2022

 

LIONTRUST ASSET MANAGEMENT PLC

FULL YEAR RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

 

Liontrust Asset Management Plc (” Liontrust “, the ” Company “, or the ” Group “), the independent fund management group, today announces its results for the year ended 31 March 2022.

 

Results:

 

• Adjusted profit before tax of £96.6 million (2021: £59.0 million¹), an increase of 64%.

 

• Adjusted diluted earnings per share of 127.6 pence per share (2021: 80.1 pence per share¹), an increase of 59%.

 

• Profit before tax of £79.3 million (2021: £34.9 million), an increase of 127%, see note 5 below for a reconciliation to Adjusted profit before tax.

 

• Revenues (Gross Profit) of £231 million (2021: £164 million), an increase of 41%, includes £12.6 million of performance fee revenues (2021: £13.7 million)

 

Dividend:

 

• Second Interim dividend of50.0 pence per share (2021: 36.0 pence) . This brings the total dividend for the financial year ending 31 March 2022 to 72.0 pence per share (2021: 47.0 pence), an increase of 53%.

 

Assets under management and advice:

 

• On 31 March 2022, assets under management and advice (“AuMA “) were £33.5 billion (2021: £30.9 billion), an increase of 8.5%. Majedie Asset Management Limited (“Majedie“) acquisition completed on 1 April 2022 adding £5.2 billion² to AuMA, taking Liontrust's pro forma AuMA to £38.7 billion.

 

• AuMA as at 17 June 2022 were£34,230 million .

 

¹ Restated, see note 5 below.

² As at close of business on 31 March 2022.

 

Flows:

 

• Net inflows of £2.5 billion in the financial year ended 31 March 2022³(2021: £3.5 billion).

 

                Liontrust had the second highest net retail sales in the UK in 2021, according to the Pridham Report.

 

³ Includes outflows of £329 million related to the termination of the investment management agreement for the Verbatim Portfolio Growth Funds (“Verbatim Funds“) on 21 March 2022.

 

Commenting, John Ions, Chief Executive, said:

 

“Over the past 13 years, we have successfully grown Liontrust by seeking to deliver discipline and excellence in everything we do and focusing on long-term positive outcomes for our investors. The success of this approach is shown by our strong sales, growth in AuMA and profitability, and a 53% increase in total dividends for the financial year.

 

These positive outcomes have been achieved through Liontrust's investment teams, their rigorous and robust processes, and first-class service and communications. While there will always be periods when the investment teams' funds will underperform indices and peer groups, we have full confidence in the investment expertise and processes at Liontrust that have shown they can help investors reach their investment goals over the long term. The success of the past that was based on focus and discipline is all the more important in the current volatile conditions.  

 

It is understandable that investors' attention is often  on the short term, whether it be reacting to the latest news headlines or recent performance, but we must not lose sight of what we as asset managers are trying to achieve in managing people's savings for the long term. As active and responsible investors, this means not only seeking to generate strong investment performance but also engagement with the companies we hold to ensure they adopt best practices and reporting to investors on the impact our teams are having through this. Asset managers with a genuine focus on ESG and sustainable investment will have a stronger tailwind.

 

Liontrust's approach has gained significant independent recognition over the last few years, including recently for the solutions we are providing financial advisers and their clients. The Liontrust SF Managed funds won the Best ESG Solution for Advisers at the Professional Adviser awards and were highly commended in the Best Multi-Asset Fund: Risk Managed Award.

 

In June, Liontrust won the Best Active Investment Solution Provider and the Best ESG Investment Solution Provider awards at the Professional Paraplanner Awards. These are in addition to seven of our funds being shortlisted for Investment Week's Fund Manager of the Year Awards and Liontrust being nominated for Global Group of the Year. The seven fund nominations are spread across five of our investment teams.

 

Further recognition has come from research by Square Mile, the investment research and consulting company, among financial advisers. Of those asked, 25% of advisers said Liontrust have the best sustainable investment team.

 

The increased focus on ESG and sustainable investment, including developments such as the Net Zero Asset Managers' Initiative which we signed in May 2022, will surface the invisible in terms of the various approaches of investors. It will also enable a move from take, make, break to a sustainable future.

 

We have had success in the institutional market through being appointed by LGPS Central to manage the newly launched Global Sustainable Equities Active Fund, with four local authorities partners investing at launch.

 

We continue to add value through M&A. On 1 April 2022, we completed the acquisition of Majedie Asset Management, which has broadened our distribution and investment capability. Majedie was appointed manager of one of the oldest investment trusts in 2020, which is testament to the team's investment strength and provides a presence in this market.

 

While it has been a more challenging economic background so far this year across the industry for fund flows, Liontrust has continued to perform relatively well with the sixth largest gross retail sales in the UK in the first quarter of 2022 (Source: Pridham Report). Over the financial year, Liontrust achieved impressive net inflows of £2.5 billion.

 

Given the uncertainties facing us all, it is key that we have been able to increase significantly face-to-face meetings and events with clients over recent months, and this is enabling enhanced engagement with our investment teams. We are also communicating regularly with investors and are developing our digital marketing capability following the launch of the new Liontrust website in March.

 

Whatever the challenges ahead for the global economy, our investment excellence, robust processes and high-quality service give me great confidence that over the long term we can continue to deliver positive outcomes for our investors and therefore our shareholders and other stakeholders.”