Aug 11 (Reuters) - Quilter reported a jump in assets
under management on Wednesday, but the British wealth manager
sounded a note of caution over volatility in financial markets
linked to U.S.-China tensions and concerns over inflation.
The company, a spin-off of Anglo-South African insurer Old
Mutual, said assets under management and administration grew by
8% to 104.8 billion pounds ($144.94 billion) at end-June 2021
compared to the end of 2020, while net inflows in the first half
were 2 billion pounds.
Wealth managers have seen a strong run as trillions of
dollars in government stimulus and an improved economic outlook
following vaccination rollouts have led more people to invest.
Results last month from larger rival Schroders showed
its assets nearing $1 trillion.
"After the broader challenges and market volatility of 2020,
the first half of 2021 represented a welcome return to more
normal market conditions, with improving inflows and rising
equity markets," Quilter Chief Executive Paul Feeney said in a
statement.
Following the completion of an upgrade to its largest
business, Quilter Investment Platform, the company pointed to
early signs of increased flows after the full migration of
advisers and customers to the new platform.
Quilter earned 56 million pounds on an adjusted basis for
the six months to June, a 19% rise compared to a year earlier,
and raised its interim dividend to 1.7 pence a share from 1
pence.
But it logged a statutory loss of 21 million pounds compared
to a profit of 13 million pounds, citing the impact of rising
equity markets on policyholder tax accounting recognition.
"We have experienced bouts of volatility reflecting
uncertainty over the heightened U.S.-China tensions, coupled
with concerns over the direction of inflation and interest
rates," Quilter said.
"This leaves us cautious on expectations of further
substantial near-term market appreciation."
($1 = 0.7231 pounds)
(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru, editing by Carolyn Cohn
and Barbara Lewis)