Earnings release
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Trading Update Released : 15/01/2025 07:00 RNS Number : 3241T Liontrust Asset Management PLC 15 January 2025 LEI: 549300XVXU6S7PLCL855 For immediate release 15 January 2025 Stock Exchange Announcement LIONTRUST ASSET MANAGEMENT PLC Trading Update Liontrust Asset Management Plc (" Liontrust" or the " Company"), the specialist independent fund management group, today issues its trading update for the three months ended 31 December 2024 (the "Period"). · Net outflows of £1.6 billion in the Period (2023: £1.7 billion). · Assets under management and advice (" AuMA") were £24.6 billion as at 31 December 2024, a decrease over the Period of 5.3%. · AuMA as at 9 January 2025 were £24.7 billion. · The Sustainable Investment team's 10 UK‐domiciled funds ( £8.5 billion of AuMA) to adopt the "Sustainable Focus" label. · Business Transformation Programme progresses with increased annualised savings identified. Commenting, John Ions, Chief Executive Officer, said: "Liontrust will be adopting the FCA's Sustainability Focus label for all 10 of the UK‐domiciled funds managed by the Sustainable Investment team with a total of £8.5 billion in AuMA. Improving trust and transparency of sustainable investment funds will play a key role in clients' decision making. Clients will benefit from Liontrust having one of the broadest fund ranges with SDR labels, comprising equity, fixed income and managed funds. Liontrust and other active managers are still facing external headwinds, but we believe the impact will lessen over the course of 2025. The Group continues to make good progress towards our strategic objectives and there is increasingly strong fund performance. Net outflows during the fourth quarter of 2024 were significantly concentrated in October at around 50% of
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the total, mirroring the broader UK funds industry which experienced its third worst month on record ahead of the Chancellor's Autumn Budget. We are seeing stronger performance across our investment teams. For example, the European Dynamic Fund was the best performer in its sector over five years 1, the three funds managed by Global Innovation are in the first or second quartile over one, three and five years 1, and the UK Equity and UK Focus funds are in the first or second quartile over one, three and five years 1. Mark Hawtin and his team took over management of the Global Alpha and Balanced funds in 2024 and they are both in the first quartile of their sectors over one year 1. This team will be taking on a Liontrust branded long/short fund later this month to add to our alternatives capabilities. The Liontrust brand continues to be well recognised, scoring highly for perception, familiarity, communications, client service, and advertising recall and attribution (Source: Research in Finance). There are reasons to believe we are entering a more positive period for active investors. There is currently an extreme concentration of the mega caps in the US market, which is at its highest level for a century. Any broadening of returns from equity markets, greater focus on valuations and lower index returns going forward will present opportunities for price discovery among active investors. We have continued to strengthen and develop our operating platform to make Liontrust more effective and efficient. We are deepening our relationship with BNY to provide us with a scalable and cutting‐edge trading solution and now expect annualised savings of up to £6 million , up from £4.5 million which we announced alongside our half year results in November 2024. We are well placed to take advantage of opportunities ahead. Alongside our proven investment processes, market‐leading brand, strong client relationships, communications and engagement, we are making further progress in achieving our strategic objectives of enhancing the client experience and outcomes, diversifying the fund range, broadening the client base, and strengthening our technological, data and digital capability." 1 Source: Financial Express to 10 January 2025, bid‐to‐bid basis, net of fees, and Liontrust. Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and Investment labelling regime ("SDR") Liontrust has received approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (" FCA") for SDR related changes to the investment objectives and policy, and will adopt the "Sustainability Focus" label for the following 10 funds which have an aggregate AuMA of £8.5 billion: · Liontrust Sustainable Future Monthly Income Bond Fund; · Liontrust Sustainable Future Cautious Managed Fund; · Liontrust Sustainable Future Corporate Bond Fund; · Liontrust Sustainable Future Defensive Managed Fund; · Liontrust Sustainable Future European Growth Fund; · Liontrust Sustainable Future Global Growth Fund; · Liontrust Sustainable Future Managed Fund; · Liontrust Sustainable Future Managed Growth Fund; · Liontrust Sustainable Future UK Growth Fund; and · Liontrust UK Ethical Fund. Liontrust expects to send out notifications to investors in the above funds of the SDR related changes to the investment objectives and Policy by the end of January 2025 and to use the SDR labels from April 2025. Update on Business transformation programme We have made progress with our Business transformation programme, for which we provided details when we announced our Half Year results in November 2024.
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The work on the operating model is mostly complete. BlackRock's Aladdin platform was implemented in July 2024 and is working well. We now have a much more extensive relationship with BNY's front office and middle office teams and the BNY Data Vault system is embedded in our operating model and is being used day to day with further, business as usual, development ongoing. As part of our ongoing commitment to enhancing operational efficiency, it is proposed to deepen our strategic relationship with BNY by using its Buyside Trading Solutions for our trading capabilities. This collaboration will allow us to extend our trading capabilities beyond UK trading hours and access more counterparties, with a solution that is scalable and with a partner that is investing heavily in its trading services to ensure that it remains cutting edge. In November 2024, we announced a proposed reduction of around 25 roles across our business for an annualised saving, if implemented in full, of employee‐related, member‐related and non‐staff‐related expenses of around £4.5 million with implementation costs of around £4 million. Having reviewed the proposed cost efficiencies, further savings have been identified and we are now proposing a further small reduction in roles and non‐staff related expenses across our business for annualised savings, if implemented in full, of employee‐related, member‐related and non‐staff related expenses of around £6.0 million. The reductions we announced in November 2024 expect to be completed by end March 2025, the additional reductions identified expect to be completed by the end of September 2025, and implementation costs for the role reductions and non‐staff related expenses are now anticipated to be around £4.5 million, which will be mostly incurred in the second half of the current financial year, with the balance in the first half of the next. Assets under management and advice On 31 December 2024, our AuMA stood at £24,576 million and were broken down by type and investment process as follows: Process Total Institutional Accounts & Funds Investment Trusts UK Retail Funds & MPS Alternative Funds International Funds & Accounts (£m) (£m) (£m) (£m) (£m) (£m) Sustainable Investment 9,218 329 ‐ 8,523 ‐ 366 Economic Advantage 5,126 379 ‐ 4,667 ‐ 80 Multi‐Asset 3,956 ‐ ‐ 3,791 80 85 Global Equities 1,168 ‐ ‐ 1,146 22 ‐ Global Innovation 862 ‐ ‐ 861 ‐ 1 Cashflow Solution 2,397 513 ‐ 1,539 161 184 Global Fundamental 1,849 225 1,153 471 ‐ ‐ Total 24,576 1,446 1,153 20,998 263 716 AuMA as at 9 January 2025 were £24,692 million. Flows The net outflows over the Period were £1,553 million (2023: £1,664 million). A reconciliation of fund flows and AuMA over the Period is as follows: Total Institutional Accounts & Funds Investment Trusts UK Retail Funds & MPS Alternative Funds International Funds & Accounts (£m) (£m) (£m) (£m) (£m) (£m)
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Opening AuMA ‐ 1 October 2024 25,956 1,469 1,186 22,239 258 804 Net flows (1,553) (43) (19) (1,404) 4 (91) Market & Investment performance 173 20 (14) 163 1 3 Closing AuMA ‐ 31 December 2024 24,576 1,446 1,153 20,998 263 716 Key Fund Performance (Quartile ranking) UK domiciled funds‐ Quartile ranking ‐ Since inception Quartile ranking ‐ 5 year Quartile ranking ‐ 3 year Quartile ranking ‐ 1 year Inception Date Economic Advantage funds Liontrust Special Situations Fund 1 3 3 4 10/11/2005 Liontrust UK Growth Fund 1 2 3 4 01/04/1996 Liontrust UK Micro Cap Fund 1 1 2 4 09/03/2016 Liontrust UK Smaller Companies Fund 1 2 3 4 08/01/1998 Liontrust Global Smaller Companies Fund 4 3 4 4 31/12/2007 Sustainable Future funds Liontrust SF Cautious Managed Fund 2 4 4 4 23/07/2014 Liontrust SF Corporate Bond Fund 3 3 3 3 19/02/2001 Liontrust SF Defensive Managed Fund 1 4 4 4 23/07/2014 Liontrust SF European Growth Fund 3 4 4 3 19/02/2001 Liontrust SF Global Growth Fund 3 3 4 3 19/02/2001 Liontrust SF Managed Fund 1 2 4 3 19/02/2001 Liontrust SF Managed Growth Fund 2 1 4 3 19/02/2001 Liontrust SF Monthly Income Bond Fund 1 2 2 4 12/07/2010 Liontrust SF UK Growth Fund 3 4 4 1 19/02/2001 Liontrust UK Ethical Fund 3 4 4 1 01/12/2000 Global Innovation funds Liontrust Global Dividend Fund 2 1 2 1 20/12/2012 Liontrust Global Innovation Fund 1 2 3 1 31/12/2001 Liontrust Global Technology Fund 2 1 1 2 15/12/2015 Global Equity funds Liontrust Balanced Fund 1 1 3 1 31/12/1998 Liontrust China Fund 4 3 2 1 31/12/2004 Liontrust Emerging Market Fund 3 4 3 2 30/09/2008 Liontrust Global Alpha Fund 1 2 4 1 31/12/2001
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Liontrust India Fund 4 1 2 3 29/12/2006 Liontrust Japan Equity Fund 2 1 1 1 22/06/2015 Liontrust Latin America Fund 2 3 3 1 03/12/2007 Liontrust US Opportunities Fund 2 3 4 3 31/12/2002 Cashflow Solution funds Liontrust European Dynamic Fund 1 1 1 2 15/11/2006 Global Fundamental funds Liontrust Income Fund 1 2 2 3 31/12/2002 Edinburgh Investment Trust Plc 1 ‐ 1 2 31/03/2020 Liontrust UK Equity Fund 1 2 2 1 27/03/2003 Liontrust UK Focus Fund 1 2 3 1 29/09/2003 Multi‐Asset funds Liontrust Strategic Bond Fund 3 3 3 3 08/05/2018 Liontrust MA Explorer 35 Fund 1 ‐ ‐ 1 31/12/2002 Liontrust MA Explorer Income 45 Fund 2 ‐ ‐ 2 31/03/2020 Liontrust MA Explorer Income 60 Fund 1 ‐ ‐ 1 27/03/2003 Liontrust MA Explorer 70 Fund 2 ‐ ‐ 3 29/09/2003 Liontrust MA Explorer 85 Fund 1 ‐ ‐ 2 29/09/2003 Liontrust MA Explorer 100 Fund 2 ‐ ‐ 2 29/09/2003 Liontrust MA Monthly High Income Fund 3 4 2 1 01/05/2012 Liontrust MA UK Equity Fund 4 3 3 3 12/11/2001 Irish domiciled funds‐ Quartile ranking ‐ Since inception Quartile ranking ‐ 5 year Quartile ranking ‐ 3 year Quartile ranking ‐ 1 year Inception Date Economic Advantage funds Liontrust GF Special Situations Fund 1 3 3 4 08/11/2012 Liontrust GF UK Growth Fund 1 2 2 3 03/09/2014 Sustainable Future funds Liontrust GF SF European Corporate Bond Fund 2 3 2 2 29/05/2018 Liontrust GF SF Global Growth Fund 2 2 4 3 12/11/2019 Liontrust GF SF Multi Asset Global Fund 4 ‐ 4 3 13/10/2021 Liontrust GF SF Pan‐European Growth Fund 2 4 4 2 14/03/2001 Liontrust GF SF US Growth Fund 3 ‐ ‐ 4 07/07/2023 Cashflow Solution funds Liontrust GF European Smaller Companies Fund 1 1 1 1 01/02/2017
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Liontrust GF European Strategic Equity Fund 1 1 1 1 25/04/2014 Multi‐Asset funds Liontrust GF Absolute Return Fund 2 2 2 2 26/06/2018 Liontrust GF High Yield Fund 1 1 1 1 08/06/2018 Liontrust GF Strategic Bond Fund 1 2 2 3 13/04/2018 Source: Financial Express to 31 December 2024 as at 9 January 2025, bid‐bid, total return, net of fees , based on primary share class. Past performance is not a guide to future performance, investments can result in total loss of capital. The above funds are all UK authorised unit trusts, OEICs, Irish authorised OEICs (primary share class) or UK listed investment trusts. Onshore funds use the Financial Express Investment Association sectors. Offshore funds use the FCA Recognised offshore sectors. Edinburgh Investment Trust Plc uses the AIC Investment Trust UK Equity Income sector. Liontrust Global Smaller Companies Fund moved from the Global Equities team to the Economic Advantage team on 14 January 2025. Global Fixed Income team moved to the Multi‐Asset team on 1 January 2025, the funds managed by the Global Fixed Income team now appear under Multi‐Asset funds. MA Explorer funds had an objective change on 05/04/2023 and rankings are shown from then. MA Dynamic Passive fund range, MA Blended fund range, Diversified Real Assets Fund and Russia Fund (suspended) are not included as are in an IA sector that is not rankable. GF Pan European Dynamic, GF Global Technology, GF Global Innovation and GF Global Dividend funds are excluded because they were recently launched. For further information please contact: Teneo (Tel: 020 7353 4200, Email: liontrust@teneo.com) Tom Murray, Colette Cahill, Jessica Pine Liontrust Asset Management Plc (Tel: 020 7412 1700, Website: liontrust.co.uk) Stephen Corbett: Head of Investor Relations Simon Hildrey: Chief Marketing Officer Singer Capital Markets (Tel: 020 7496 3000) Corporate Broking: Charles Leigh‐Pemberton Corporate Advisory: James Moat Panmure Liberum (Tel: 020 7886 2500) Corporate Broking: David Watkins Corporate Advisory: Atholl Tweedie HSBC Bank plc (Tel: 020 7991 8888) Corporate Broking: Simon Alexander, James Hopton Corporate Advisory: Alexander Paul Forward Looking Statements This announcement contains certain forward‐looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and businesses and plans of Liontrust. These statements and forecasts involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend upon circumstances that have not yet occurred. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward‐looking statements and forecasts. As a result, the Liontrust's actual future financial condition, results of operations and business and plans may differ materially from the plans, goals and expectations expressed or implied by these forward‐looking statements. Liontrust undertakes no obligation publicly to update or revise forward‐looking statements, except as may be
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required by applicable law and regulation (including the Listing Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority). Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast or be relied upon as a guide to future performance. Other information The release, publication, transmission or distribution of this announcement in, into or from jurisdictions other than the United Kingdom may be restricted by law and therefore persons in such jurisdictions into which this announcement is released, published, transmitted or distributed should inform themselves about and observe such restrictions. Any failure to comply with the restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. ENDS This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com. RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy. END TSTDZLFFEFLLBBD