Brewin Dolphin posts record discretionary fund inflows in 2021
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Robin Beer
Brewin Dolphin has posted record discretionary net flows of £1.9bn, compared to £0.9bn in 2020, in its full-year results for 2021.
The net inflows represent an annualised growth rate of 4.6%.
For the year ended 30 September 2021, the firm reported discretionary net flows of £0.5bn from direct clients and £1.4bn from indirect clients, of which £1.0bn flowed into MPS and Voyager.
At the same time, total funds increased by 19.5% over the last 12 months to £56.9bn (FY 2020: £47.6bn). Total discretionary funds increased 20.9% to £49.8bn (FY 2020: £41.2bn) driven by positive net flows and strong investment performance.
Total income for the period increased by 12.3% to £405.9m (FY 2020: £361.4m) driven by strong market performance and record discretionary gross inflows.
Financial planning income grew 25.7% to £41.6m (FY 2020: £33.1m), driven by both 1762 from Brewin Dolphin and the Wealth Core propositions.
Brewin Dolphin also reported strong cash balance of £188.0m (FY 2020: £180.5m) and capital adequacy ratio of 230%.
The firm also declared a final dividend per share up 12.1% to 11.1p, taking total to 15.7p per share.
Robin Beer, chief executive, said: “We have had an exceptional year achieving record discretionary inflows and are delivering on our growth ambitions. None of this would have been possible without our people, who have adapted so effectively to remote working and continue to focus on putting our clients at the centre of all their decision making.
“We have remained relevant by continuing to innovate our propositions whilst also developing our digital capabilities. We have started to drive operational efficiencies through our client management system and our new custody and settlement system is now live.”
He added: “Looking ahead to FY 2022, our priority is to complete the final phased rollout of functionality for our new custody and settlement system, which will complete in summer 2022. On completion, with our new technology capabilities coupled with the operational excellence programme, we expect to capture significant synergies and benefits across the business, supporting our vision to deliver double digit earnings per share growth by 2025.
“We remain focused on becoming the leading advice-focused digitally-enabled wealth manager in the UK and Ireland, which we believe will allow us to benefit from sector growth and capture market share.”
Marc Wilkinson, regional director for Scotland at Brewin Dolphin, added: “It has been an exceptional year for our Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Dundee offices, which have all benefited from the increased need for financial planning. Edinburgh remains one the most important offices in our UK network, while Glasgow has performed very well on the back of new business wins. Aberdeen and Dundee continue to benefit from the growing community of entrepreneurs in both cities.
“Perhaps unsurprisingly, the rise in inflation has been a particularly prominent concern for our existing clients and new enquiries, while volatility continues to affect markets and potential tax changes are also on people’s minds.
“Our ability to provide smart financial advice to our clients is a significant differentiator, supported by the outperformance of our investment management teams. This combined service has seen us support our clients through a great deal of uncertainty in the past 20 months and we continue to believe that taking financial advice is more important than ever before.”