Premier Miton’s assets under management jumped 13 per cent in the final quarter of 2020 as the firm completed its integration work post-merger.
The fund house reported today (January 8) its assets stood at £12bn as at December 31 — 13 per cent up from the £10.6bn recorded for the start of Q4.
It also saw a return to positive inflows for the quarter, reporting net inflows of £166m over the three months.
This followed a substantial period of outflows for Premier Miton. In the year to September 2020 — the year following the announcement of the merger — investors pulled £620m from the asset manager, more than double the £300m reported for the previous year.
Mike O’Shea, chief executive officer, said it was “pleasing” to see a return to net inflows, adding that it was driven by positive flows into its equity and fixed income strategies.
He added: “Unfortunately, we continued to see outflows from our multi-asset multi-manager funds although there has been a noticeable improvement in short-term investment performance.”
Premier Miton has made a number of moves to strengthen its investment range post-merger, most notably scooping up Merian Global Investor’s ditched fixed income team.
Lloyd Harris, previously in charge of fixed income at Merian, was hired by Premier Miton alongside his team mates after being let go from Merian during its takeover by Jupiter Asset Manager.
It has since launched a number of funds for the new team, bolstering its fixed income offering.
The fund house also recently poached Aberdeen Standard’s Alan Roswell. Mr Roswell was manager of the £1.2bn ASI Global Smaller Companies fund from 2012, and Premier Miton is set to launch its own small-cap portfolio for him in March.
Mr O’Shea said: “We look forward to the launch of the Premier Miton Global Smaller Companies fund on March 22.
“Premier Miton already has extensive smaller companies experience across UK, US and European equities and the new fund will draw on this, alongside Alan’s own expertise, to provide further investment choice for our clients.”
The Premier Miton merger, announced and legally completed in autumn 2019, saw the two mid-tier UK fund management companies create a £11.2bn fund house.
Shareholders of Premier, listed on the Alternative Investment Market in 2016, own 66 per cent of the combined company, with Miton shareholders owning the remainder.
According to Mr O’Shea, the integration work following the merger is now complete.
He said: “I am also pleased to report that during the quarter, the final operational stages of the integration of the former Premier and Miton businesses were completed.
“This allows the group to move forward with a single operating platform across our entire fund range.”
imogen.tew@ft.com
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