Brooks Macdonald: Wealth manager puts ‘behind plan’ international arm under review

Wealth manager Brooks Macdonald has placed its international division under review after telling markets it is “behind plan” following a string of poor results.

The publically traded investment firm said the decision was being made “in the interests of achieving the best return for shareholders”.

As well as a ‘strategic review’ of the business, it recognised a “£11.6m one-off, non-cash impairment charge on the goodwill associated with the International business acquired in 2012”, which led to a loss before tax of £800,000, compared to a profit of £9.8m in the first half of the financial year.

According to its results, in the first half of the 2024 financial year, its international arm made just £9.4m compared to £10.1m the previous year, and £20.3m overall in 2023. It added that funds under management at the international division totalled just £2.2bn.

The announcement comes as the company issued its financial results for the last year, which were overall positive.

It said total funds under management (FUM) grew to a record £17.6bn, up 4.3 per cent, compared to £16.8bn in June last year.

Revenue increased by eight per cent to £63.6m, while it said underlying costs increased by 4.7 per cent – but this was in line with its guidance.

Its underlying profit before tax was £17.1m, up from £14.5m, with the outlook being in line with market expectations;

Brooks Macdonald did however warn that there had been “elevated level of outflows given prevailing macroeconomic conditions, and we now expect net outflows for the full year at the Group level”.

Chief executive Andrew Shepherd said he was “pleased to report that demand for our products and services remains strong across our group with £1.2bn of gross inflows during the period.

“During the last six months our priority has been to help our clients and advisers navigate the challenging markets that the wealth management industry has continued to face. The need for trusted advice and robust long-term investment management remains as strong as ever.

“Although the short-term macroeconomic outlook remains uncertain, we have confidence in our growth strategy and our ability to keep delivering for all our stakeholders.”