Quarterly Announcement of Funds under Management

25 April 2019

BROOKS MACDONALD GROUP PLC

Quarterly Announcement of Funds under Management

Brooks Macdonald Group plc (the "Group"), the AIM listed investment management group, today publishes its quarterly update on its Discretionary Funds under Management ("FUM") for the third quarter ended 31 March 2019.

As at 31 March 2019, FUM totalled £12.8bn, an increase of 7.9% over the quarter (31 December 2018: £11.9bn). As a comparison, the MSCI WMA Balanced Index increased by 6.9% over the period.

· This result was driven by net new business of £166m (+1.4%) and investment performance of £773m (+6.5%)

· UK Investment Management ("UKIM") added net flows of £152m (+1.5%) and performance gains of £742m (+7.2%)

· International had positive net new business of £14m (+0.9%) as the impact of the previously disclosed loss of a client-facing team fell away

Year-on-year, total FUM increased by 9.8% (31 March 2018: £11.7bn).

In line with the Group's stated strategy to focus on its core offerings, on 10 April the Ground Rents Income Fund plc ("GRIF"), a specialised property fund, announced that the Group was exiting from its investment management agreement with the fund. This is subject to the necessary FCA notification, which is expected to take one month. GRIF represented £93m of non-core funds at 31 March 2019.

Analysis of discretionary fund flows over the quarter

Caroline Connellan, Chief Executive of Brooks Macdonald commented:

"I am pleased to report we have continued to perform well overall with positive net new business and strong investment performance. Although client sentiment remained subdued in the UK against the backdrop of macro-economic and political uncertainty, in that context we maintained decent organic growth, reflecting the strength of our client and adviser relationships. The return to positive net flows in International is encouraging, with the changes we announced in March designed to support the future growth of this business.

"The ongoing strength of our investment performance gave us good total FUM growth, driven by our Centralised Investment Process and the depth of expertise within our teams.

"The fundamental opportunity for our business remains strong and the actions we have taken towards delivering sustainable and value-enhancing growth position us well for the future." 

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Notes to editors

Brooks Macdonald Group plc, through its various subsidiaries, provides leading investment management services in the UK and internationally. The Group, which was founded in 1991 and began trading on AIM in 2005, had Discretionary Funds under Management of £12.8 billion as at 31 March 2019.

Brooks Macdonald offers a range of investment management services to private high net worth individuals, pension funds, institutions, charities and trusts. The Group also provides financial planning as well as offshore investment management and acts as fund manager to a regulated OEIC providing a range of risk-managed multi-asset funds and a specialised absolute return fund.

The Group has thirteen offices across the UK and the Channel Islands including London, East Anglia, Hampshire, Leamington Spa, Manchester, Taunton, Tunbridge Wells, York, Scotland, Wales, Jersey, and Guernsey.

LEI: 213800WRDF8LB8MIEX37