Frenkel Topping Regulatory News (FEN)

Frenkel Topping Group plc

("Frenkel Topping" or "the Company")

AGM Statement

Frenkel Topping (AIM: FEN), a specialist independent financial advisor and asset manager focussed on asset protection for vulnerable clients, will hold its Annual General Meeting today at 10.00 a.m. at Addleshaw Goddard LLP, 100 Barbirolli Square, Manchester, M2 3AB. At the meeting Chairman David Southworth will make the following statement:

Following last September's acquisition of FC Fund Managers, which has been renamed Frenkel Topping Investment Management ("FTIM"), the Company has been busy preparing and implementing its new business strategy with the aim of targeting a larger addressable market with our best of breed investment management solutions.

With FCA permissions received in March, we are now able to act as a discretionary investment manager with full retail permissions and, as such, have recently commenced re-papering clients and migrating funds whereby FTIM becomes the appointed discretionary investment manager for Assets under Management ("AUM"). The key development here is that investment management is no longer wholly outsourced to third parties.

In addition, having negotiated improved terms with an existing third party platform provider and other service providers, clients will benefit from lower fees, while at the same time our earnings on AUM will grow. We are also in talks to negotiate further deals with other fund managers. This will have a two-pronged benefit of improved revenue retention and increased competitiveness in winning new business.

The new model and FCA approvals are expected to yield higher margins and accelerated growth in profitability from 2017 as we migrate funds and benefit from providing a wider product offering to a larger potential customer base. As announced on 14 March 2016, the Board's expectations are that in the financial year ending 31 December 2017, we are comfortably on track, given no unforeseen external influences, to double operating profitability from that reported for the financial year ended 31 December 2015.

We now have £674m AUM compared to £666m at the year-end, despite some negative impacts from market conditions. 

Furthermore, our growing regional presence is also bearing fruit with offices in London, Birmingham, Leeds Cardiff and Bristol. As a result, 20% of AUM is from outside of our Manchester base. We now have a total of 17 consultants (14 as at 31 December 2015).

As ever, our 12th Deputy Day held this month proved hugely successful and provided a useful opportunity for us to further strengthen key relationships, assist with understanding of industry regulation and legislation and to introduce FTIM to Court of Protection professional deputies.

The highly cash generative nature of our model ensures that our balance sheet remains strong with £4.9m of cash on the balance sheet as at 30 April 2016 and we are now extremely well placed to add significantly more AUM over the coming years. This will be reflected in the progressive dividend that the Company has committed to paying to all shareholders. The current year has started in accordance with market expectations with a highly committed and proactive management team in place.

After almost 12 years as Chairman, I have informed the Board of my intention to retire from the Board. I will continue to act as Chairman until a suitable replacement has been identified and appointed.

I would like to thank all shareholders for their continued support and look forward to updating the market with further developments in due course.

For further information:

About Frenkel Topping: www.frenkeltopping.co.uk

Frenkel Topping provides specialist independent financial advice focussed on asset protection for clients. The specialist independent financial adviser has a market leading position providing advice and fund management services for personal injury trusts and clinical negligence awards and is well placed to provide services to a wider customer base.

The Company provides a range of wealth management services including bespoke investment portfolios, financial and tax planning. It is focused on increasing its assets under management by growing the number of fee earners who are qualified to provide benefits protection for a variety of needs as the Company adds to its personal injury and clinical negligence specialism.

It has a national presence with offices in Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London and Leeds and has relationships and infrastructure in place to further grow its reach and target markets.