By Scott Wright
ASSETCO, the acquisitive investment firm chaired by Martin Gilbert, has flagged an “improvement in positioning and performance” of its Edinburgh-based Saracen Fund Managers, as it reported a loss of £2.6 million for the six months ended March 31.
The wealth manager said assets under management at Saracen, which it acquired for £2.75m in May 2021, stood at £113.2m on March 31 after the business was relaunched with an updated brand. Saracen had around £120m of assets under management at the time of the deal.
Mr Gilbert, who co-founded Aberdeen Asset Management and steered it through its £11 billion merger with Standard Life in 2017, joined AssetCo in January 2021. Since then it has undertaken a series of acquisitions as it has sought to build a presence in the asset and wealth management sector, frequently targeting firms in Scotland.
Yesterday, it said it had completed the acquisition of River and Mercantile Group in a £95.3m deal first announced in January. AssetCo also clinched a deal in January to acquire Edinburgh-based Revera Asset Management, which AssetCo said yesterday has AUM of around £103m, for £2.8m.
Mr Gilbert, who joined AssetCo shortly after stepping down from the board of Standard Life, underlined the importance of Scotland to AssetCo yesterday. The fund management veteran said: “The proposed acquisition of Revera, along with that of Saracen Fund Managers last year, demonstrates our desire to have a strong presence in Scotland, given the talent and expertise located there.”
AssetCo said the half-year loss reported yesterday was “in line with our expectations as we continue to build the business”.
Shares in AssetCo closed up 7.5 per cent at 752.8p.
It noted that the interim profit of £22.3m it booked last year “principally arose from the final payment received from the successful litigation claim against Grant Thornton”.
AUM stood at £12.2bn at Match 31, AssetCo said, following the completion o the River and Mercantile acquisition. The company proposed an interim dividend of 13p which is expected to be declared in the quarter.
Chief executive Campbell Fleming said: “We have made good progress in developing AssetCo’s listed equity platform, private markets capability and thematic ETF business. At the same time, Parmenion, which provides investment solutions to advisers and their clients, has expanded.
“The current market environment, alongside the structural shifts taking place within the asset and wealth management sector, supports a strategy of building an agile asset and wealth manager, uninhibited by legacy issues, to meet the needs of investors.”
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