Magellan sees slight uplift in FUM

Magellan Financial Group had $46.2 billion in funds under management (FUM) as of the end of January this year, a 2 per cent increase compared to the previous month.

In an update to the ASX on Monday, the fund manager indicated that it had experienced net outflows of $0.5 billion during January, including net retail outflows of $0.3 billion and net institutional outflows of $0.2 billion.

These figures were significantly lower than those seen a month earlier, with Magellan previously reporting $2.6 billion of total net outflows for the month of December.

In January, institutional FUM was reported to have increased from $26.4 billion to $27.2 billion while retail FUM lifted from $18.9 billion to $19.0 billion.

Global equities FUM rose from $20.6 billion to $20.8 billion, infrastructure equities FUM moved up from $16.2 billion to $16.4 billion and Australian equities FUM grew from $8.5 billion to $9.0 billion.

Magellan’s total FUM more than halved over the course of 2022 amid a challenging period for the fund manager. Average FUM for the six months ended 31 December 2022 was $53.8 billion compared to $112.7 billion for the six months ended 31 December 2021.

At its annual general meeting in October last year, chief executive David George claimed that Magellan will be a fund manager of global scale once more with more than $100 billion of FUM within the next five years.

“This will not be growth for the sake of growth,” he stated.

“It will be considered growth, driven by creating long-term shareholder value.”

At the time, Mr George said that Magellan had a “strong balance sheet and capacity to execute” its five-year plan. He noted that the firm doesn’t plan to shelve its existing on-market buyback program and dividend payments.

“This growth will also be more diversified; as we expand our range of capabilities, we will be less dependent on our global equities business,” Mr George added.

Magellan is due to release its interim results for the half year to 31 December 2022 on Thursday, 16 February.

Jon Bragg

Jon Bragg is a journalist for Momentum Media's Investor Daily, nestegg and ifa. He enjoys writing about a wide variety of financial topics and issues and exploring the many implications they have on all aspects of life.