Liontrust has had a tough financial year-to-date so far, with net outflows of £541m in the three months to the end of June.
In the trading update released today, the company revealed assets under management and advice (AuMA) was at £34.2bn at the end of June.
This is reflective of the market’s fading interest in highly priced growth equities, a focus at Liontrust, which are now being forfeited for cheaper options as a consequence of inflationary pressures, supply chain issues and hurdles on economic growth.
Chief executive John Ions said: “2022 continues to be a challenging year for investors especially those who have a bias towards growth stocks. Liontrust has not been immune to this environment in terms of both performance and net flows.”
The biggest losses were recorded by the UK retail funds and multi-asset range, which dealt a significant blow to both net flows and market and investment performance.
Over one year, very few funds managed by Liontrust have positioned themselves in the top two quartiles in their respective sectors.
In fact, all of its funds in the IA Mixed Investment Shares ranked in the bottom quartile. In the IA UK All Companies sector, five funds out of seven were in the bottom two quartiles.
The only funds managed by Liontrust that consistently delivered top-quartile performance were UK Growth, UK Micro Cap and UK Smaller Companies.
But Ions remained confident about the long-term prospects, highlighting the quality of the fund management team and the companies held within the portfolios.
“Our investment processes are tried and tested over many years and economic cycles. We are confident in their continued ability to deliver positive outcomes for investors over the long term, as shown by the range of companies they are finding which they believe are undervalued by the market and present investment opportunities,” he said.
“We will continue to focus on what we do well and what has made Liontrust so successful,” which, he said, includes a continuous investment in the fund management teams.
With this premise, he proceeded to announce a few changes in the team, starting with the formation of a new global innovation team.
The unit will be headed by James Dowey and Storm Uru and will have Clare Pleydell-Bouverie’s support. It will be responsible for the Global Innovation and the Global Dividend funds, both of which had been going through a rough patch since 2021 but managed to bounce back to the top quartile of their sectors over the past month.
A second move was also announced related to the Income fund. It will move from the global equity team to the global fundamental team and will be managed by Chris Field and Dan Ekstein.
Lastly, the US Opportunities fund will shift from the global equity team to the global fundamental team. These movements are a way to “develop Liontrust’s investment talent”, said Ions.
“The excellence of our investment teams, their processes and client service give me great confidence that we will get through the current macro-economic and political environment in a strong position and continue to deliver for our investors and stakeholders.”