Recently, anytime I’ve looked at how investment management companies are doing, it’s been straightforward enough. They all more or less face the same operating landscape and tended to move together, whether it was up or down. Rising operating costs, pressure on fees and choppy markets acted as a dampener on performance from which they would then rebound as market confidence was restored.
However this year there seems to be quite a divergence in how investment managers are doing. The table below shows the share price performance year to date for a selection of investment managers – and there’s quite a range.
| Company | Share Price Move 2026 |
| M&G | +21% |
| Liontrust | +11% |
| Legal & General | +14% |
| Blackrock | -3% |
| Premier Miton | -33% |
| Jupiter | -1% |
| Aberdeen | +20% |
What’s going on?
One clear trend (and it was ever thus) is simply whether they are growing their business or not. M&G, for example, is seeing good growth in assets across a number of strategies and even in UK institutional space is seeing net positive inflows for the first time since 2023.
Premier Miton conversely is seeing net outflows and assets are down about 15% over the past 9 months. This has also seen the company slash its dividend which clearly impacted in share performance.
Some are clearly in turnaround territory. Jupiter after a number of tough years has seen its first year of positive flows since 2017. In fact the company described gross inflows this year as “exceptionally strong”.
Acquisitions and an improved story on fund flows has also helped Liontrust’s share price deliver this year so far.
For Aberdeen it’s also a story of positive fund flows as it’s investment in it’s interactive investor platform is bearing fruit
In some instances performance can be quite company specific. Legal & General is more than just a fund manager and it seems that it’s share price is benefitting from a renewed focus on returning cash to shareholders. In March it launched the largest share buyback in its 190-year history on foot pf proceeds from the sale of its US protection business. Management has pledged to return more than £5bn to shareholders between 2025 and 2027.
So it’s clear investors are differentiating between investment managers and also that managers are facing into different challenges and opportunities even in the same overall landscape.
Can we see any drivers into the future that see company performances diverge further?
Clearly the ability to grow assets is the key, so having proven capability in dynamic areas is vital. Geographically this may mean being able to gather assets in emergent regions such as Asia Pacific. Global managed assets are forecast to grow by about 30% over the next three years (Broadbridge Financial) but growth in the APAC region will be much stronger than the US or Europe.
Engagement with powerful players like sovereign wealth funds could also be a support. SWFs now managed about $16 trillion in total assets. In 2008 this was $3 trillion.
Product-wise, having capability in private assets could also help. According to Clearstream, managed private assets are expected to grow by 60% over the next three years.
Several reports I’ve read recently suggest that the key to growth for asset managers will lie beyond just fund performance and they’ll need to deliver success in distribution, reporting, data standards, liquidity management and operational processes.
But I suspect net fund flows and performance will still be top of the agenda.
Tradewinds 