MLC, Australia’s eighth-biggest dealer group by adviser numbers, posted a net income of $646 million for the six-months to March 31, up $37 million or 6.1 per cent from the prior comparative period.
The National Australia Bank (NAB)-owned wealth management business’ funds under management (FUM) climbed $8.3 billion or 8.5 per cent to $106.5 billion, MLC and NAB said in a statement to the Australia Securities Exchange on Friday.
“What we have got is a very good set of results here in difficult circumstances and I think compared to the market these stand very well,” MLC chief executive Steve Tucker told InvestorDaily.
“[We will] continue to focus on and develop our leadership on transparency whether it be through product enhancements or whether it be continuing to get advisers to shift their business model towards fees.”
Cash earnings for MLC’s investment division jumped by $18 million or 16.8 per cent to $125 million.
As reported by InvestorDaily in April, MLC’s partly owned boutique fund manager, Northward Capital, released its Australian Equity Trust to the MLC MasterKey and MasterKey Custom platforms to capture adviser inflows for the first time.
Cash earnings for MLC’s insurance arm surged by $19 million or 25 per cent to $95 million.
In the last six-months the dealer group has added 34 advisers to its aligned businesses while NAB has added 31 bank-based planners to 525.
The firm’s adviser scholarship program has attracted 98 people to financial planning since its inception three years ago, with 54 having finished the program and another 44 undertaking the course.
Overall, NAB reported a net profit of $2.7 billion for the six-months to March 31, a 25.8 per cent boost from the prior comparative period.
