Ninety One’s assets under management shrink to R2.8 trillion

Ninety One’s assets under management shrunk in the six months through September 2023 to £123.1 billion (R2.8 trillion)

Ninety One released its results for the six months to 30 September 2023 today, which revealed negative results for the asset manager.

Assets under management decreased to around R2.8 trillion, down 5% from the R2.94 trillion recorded in March 2023.

Ninety One said the market and foreign exchange impact in the first half was -R43.27 billion.

The asset manager also recorded net outflows of R97.9 billion, compared to the previous period’s R72.86 billion. 

“This was driven by limited appetite for risk-on strategies,” the company said.

There were net inflows into the South African Fund Platform and Alternatives, reflecting healthy demand. 

However, these inflows were outweighed by net outflows across the remaining asset classes due to lower demand for risk-on strategies. 

The largest contributor to net outflows, Equities, was driven by global and UK strategies, which outweighed net inflows into emerging markets, South African and sustainable equity strategies. 

The net outflows in Fixed Income were primarily from local currency emerging market sovereign strategies. Multi-asset net outflows were driven by income and South African strategies. 

The asset manager’s basic earnings per share decreased by 5% to around R2, and adjusted earnings per share decreased by 9% to just under R2.

“During the first half of the 2024 financial year, our short-term firm-wide investment performance deteriorated compared to the levels reported at the end of the 2023 financial year,” Ninety One said. 

“As of 30 September 2023, our one-year outperformance stood at 50% (31 March 2023: 57%). Our medium- and long-term firm-wide investment outperformance also declined but remains competitive at 52%, 71% and 80% over three, five and ten years, respectively.”

The asset manager said rising interest rates and increased geopolitical uncertainty have contributed to continued investor caution. 

In addition, equity markets have been driven by narrow sectoral and geographic performance. 

“These factors have dampened investor appetite for emerging markets and public equities in general. We expect these conditions to remain for the rest of the financial year.”

Ninety One declared an interim dividend of R1.36 per share.