Magellan Financial Group flagged an uptick in assets under management in its full-year results filed with the ASX on Wednesday, with an increase of 8 per cent to $39.6 billion.
The fund manager reported statutory net profit after tax of $165 million for the year to 30 June, down 31 per cent on the prior year, while operating profit rose 5 per cent to $159.7 million.
Chief executive Sophia Rahmani said FY25 marked “a year of momentum and renewal”.
“With operating profit growing 5.4 per cent … and assets under management increasing by 8.2 per cent to $39.6 billion, we are seeing the benefits of strategic diversification and improved investment performance across all our capabilities,” she said.
Speaking on the post-results webinar, Rahmani said the firm had “returned to stability” from a client perspective.
“It’s really pleasing to hear the stabilisation message played back to us by our clients, and frankly some of our institutional clients wanting to spend less time on the corporate side and cut straight through into the investment teams and hear what our portfolio managers are doing and thinking of markets – which in my experience is always a good sign that clients are wanting to talk to us about what we want to talk about as well,” Rahmani said in response to an InvestorDaily question.
Asked further about super fund internalisation and political instability and how they may impact the firm’s assets under management moving forward, the CEO said as long as Magellan can continue to provide alpha and a strong proposition, “we’ll continue to see client opportunities and partnerships with key clients”.
According to Magellan’s financials, earnings from associates Barrenjoey and Vinva more than tripled to $31.1 million, representing 20 per cent of operating profit.
Income from fund investments also surged, rising 210 per cent to $42.2 million. Magellan said the early momentum with Vinva – where it acquired a 29.5 per cent stake last year – “highlights the value of our distribution strength and institutional grade platform”.
The board declared a final dividend of 25.9 cents a share and a 21 cents special dividend, taking total dividends for the year to 73.3 cents. From FY26, the group will pay out at least 80 per cent of operating profit, reflecting its more diversified earnings profile.
Magellan returned $202 million to shareholders during the year, including $74 million via buybacks, and closed FY25 with $562 million in liquid assets and no debt.
“As we look ahead to FY26, we are operating from a position of strength and stability, with a clear focus on delivering to our clients, shareholder alignment and long-term value creation,” Rahmani said.
Moreover, Rahmani signalled Magellan is weighing further acquisitions alongside its active buyback program, confirming “live discussions” on potential deals while stressing the need to balance capital deployment with shareholder returns.
“We continue to consider a range of opportunities. It’s balancing the strategic imperative that we do want to add new specialist financial services to our business with the strict and precise criteria around the businesses we are seeking and the partnerships we want to form.
“We have not made further acquisitions post-Vinva, but are having a number of live discussions.”
