Liontrust evokes spirit of ‘09

Liontrust evokes spirit of ‘09

 Strong net inflows at Liontrust Asset Management over the past three months have lifted the boutique investment firm to within touching distance of an AUM figure last held in 2009 – just before the departure of two star fund managers.

The UK-listed group said in an interim management statement this morning that assets had hit £3.3bn at the end of June, thanks in part to its 12th successive quarter of net inflows.
The £302m figure for the second quarter was more than three times the inflows for the same period last year and was driven by retail investors, who allocated £134m. Offshore funds brought in a net £179m, but institutional accounted for £11m of net outflows.

John Ions, chief executive at Liontrust, said: “It is particularly pleasing to have maintained positive net sales given the recent volatility in equity and fixed-income markets. And to have achieved 12 successive quarters of net inflows affirms our view that the most profitable way to increase AUM is through organic growth.”
Liontrust now has £3.3bn in assets under management, just shy of the £3.4bn it managed before the January 2009 departures of Jeremy Lang and Bill Pattisson. The duo ran about 90% of the firm’s funds, and their exit triggered a drop in assets under management to £1.1bn by March of that year.
The news also hit Liontrust’s share price: on January 12, 2009, the day prior to the announcement of the departures, its shares were trading at 122.5p. The price subsequently dropped to 75p at 12.44pm that day.
But the company’s stock has recovered. Yesterday, shares in Liontrust closed at 190p.
The manager is putting its faith in its equity income funds, which Ions is confident “will be a key provider of this growth in the future”. This week it lifted geographical restrictions on the Liontrust Income Fund, allowing managers to invest in companies across the globe.
From September, the manager will also begin marketing its three equity income teams to intermediaries around the UK.
Assets under management have also been bolstered by the acquisition of retail funds manager Walker Crips Asset Management in April last year, which helped increase the figure from £1.5bn to £2.4bn in the six months to the end of September 2012.