Liontrust to “rebuild” as assets fall further

25 November 2009 8:56 am | By Hannah Smith

In its interim results for the six months to September 30 2009, funds under management stood at £1.2 billion as at November 24, down from £3.9 billion this time last year.

The group made a pre-tax profit of £500,000 over the reporting period, compared to £6.1m in 2008, and maintained its dividend at 2.5p per share. The group has no debt and holds net cash with assets of £21m, Legge says.

Speaking at a Liontrust press briefing last night, Legge said 2009 had been a tough year for the firm, with the departure of Jeremy Lang and William Pattisson, two of its key managers, and large outflows, particularly of institutional assets.

However he says is confident the firm has the competitive advantage needed to survive in a crowded marketplace.

“We have really had to survive on the bare bones this year,” he said. “It has been about planning how we are going to rebuild.”

But Liontrust’s business model has enabled it to keep costs down where other groups have not, he added. “Being anchored in process enables us to avoid the head count explosion that has happened elsewhere,” Legge said.

Performance on the First Income fund, and European and fixed income product range have been strong, Legge added, and the appointment of Ross Hollyman from Gam and Simon Thorp from Ilex, along with their teams, was also a coup for the group. Liontrust intends to launch new products for both teams. “A common criticism [of Liontrust] in past years was the over-reliance on too few managers,” Legge said. “But there has been no criticism of our business model.”

Meanwhile there have been two board-level changes at the firm, as Bernard Asher prepares to step down as non-executive chairman on January 1, to be replaced by Adrian Collins. Asher remains as a non-executive director.

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