Robin Beer

The gross discretionary inflows were higher than the £1.0bn reported in Q2, with Brewin Dolphin stating that continued growth across its direct and indirect businesses driving the change.

Over 70% of gross discretionary fund inflows, excluding MPS and Voyager fund ranges, are from new clients, and the remainder from top ups from existing clients. While Ireland contributed to around a quarter of our gross direct inflows, excluding transfers relating to Brexit.

Brewin Dolphin’s Voyager funds grew by just over £100m, taking its total funds to around £250 million. The firm added that discretionary net flows of £0.7bn, an annualised growth rate of 6.1% (Q2 2021: £0.5bn, +4.5%2, Q1 2021: £0.1bn, +1.0%2), “continues to demonstrate the value” in its advice-focused strategy and broad range of propositions.

Total funds at the company increased by 6.5% to £56.0bn in the quarter (Q2 2021: £52.6bn). Discretionary funds were up 6.6% to £48.7bn (Q2 2021: £45.7bn) supported by continued strong net flows and improved investment performance of 5.0% in the quarter (MSCI PIMFA Private Investor Balanced Index: 4.3%).

Total income was £103.8m (Q3 2020: £92.7m), an increase of 12.0% year on year, driven by higher market performance and strong fund net flows. Year to date total income was £303.7m, an increase of 13.1% year on year.

Brewin Dolphin’s financial planning income also increased by 28.9% to £10.7m (Q3 2020: £8.3m), driven by both investment performance and continued demand for ongoing financial planning advice.

Robin Beer, chief executive, said: “We are very pleased to announce a second consecutive quarter of record gross discretionary fund inflows of £1.3bn, of which over 70% were from new clients1. Strong fund inflows were seen across both our direct and indirect businesses, with Ireland having an exceptional quarter and our Voyager fund range continuing to scale at pace.

“We are in the final stages of implementing our custody and settlement system and remain on track for it to go live in our environment in the Autumn. These results are testimony that we are delivering on our strategic priorities of innovating our propositions, expanding our distribution channels and accelerating our digital agenda, and we are well-positioned to capture future growth.”