Rathbone posts drop in funds under management at March 31; sees inflows picking up

(Reuters) – Rathbone Brothers on Thursday posted a 15.4% slump in funds under management as of the end of March due to the coronavirus-led selloff in financial markets, but was encouraged that the second quarter had started well with strong inflows.

“There remains a great deal of uncertainty around the duration and severity of the pandemic, and we expect that global market conditions will remain volatile and interest rates low,” the British wealth manager said.

Rathbone said funds under management and administration decreased to 42.6 billion pounds ($52.64 billion) from 50.4 billion pounds as at December end, but added that total net organic inflows during April was 0.4 billion pounds.

Total net inflows were 0.7 billion pounds in the first quarter, compared to 0.2 billion pounds in the year-earlier period.

Investors have shied away from equities this year as risk sentiment took a beating after coronavirus-led lockdowns brought economies to a virtual halt, raising fears of a deep recession.

Rathbone’s rivals St James’s Place , Ashmore , Jupiter Fund Management and Brewin Dolphin have also reported a sharp fall in their AUMs during the period.

Bigger U.S. rival BlackRock’s AUM plunged by nearly a trillion dollars at the end of its fourth quarter due to the market woes.

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)