Australian Ethical has reported $12.95 billion in funds under management (FUM), up by 24 per cent per cent during the September quarter.
According to the firm, this uplift was boosted by positive organic net flows and strong investment performance.
Namely, Australian Ethical saw net flows of $96 million in the three months to 30 September but noted that superannuation flows of $90 million were lower due to the firm’s administration transition to GROW Inc, which commenced last month. Australian Ethical confirmed that flows for the period will then be realised in Q2.
Meanwhile, $10 million in flows stemmed from managed funds.
Most notably, however, was the company’s acquisition of Altius Asset Management, which was finalised in September and saw almost $2 billion enter the business.
In May, Australian Ethical first entered into a binding agreement to acquire the fixed income manager, noting that the transaction would provide a significant boost to its FUM.
Australian Ethical managing director John McMurdo welcomed the $13 billion FUM milestone.
“The acquisition of Altius Asset Management business not only adds to FUM, it strengthens our position as one of Australia’s leading ethical fund managers and aligns with our strategy to further build our investment team capability,” McMurdo said in a note to the ASX on Friday.
The managing director added that its in-flight transformational initiatives are also progressing well.
“The transition of our custody administration to State Street is on track to be completed by 1 November 2024 and the transition to GROW Inc superannuation administration platform from Mercer is set to complete in November, with the second tranche of members transitioning from Link to Grow Inc by the end of the financial year,” McMurdo said.
“These changes will deliver a strengthened business platform, as well as improved efficiencies and unit-cost savings, as we head into our next phase of growth supported by the increasing demand for our style of investing,” he said.
This comes after Australian Ethical’s full-year results released in August, where it reported 13 per cent growth in FUM to a record $10.4 billion.
It highlighted that in FY23–24, operating revenue increased 24 per cent to a record $100.5 million. This, it said, was achieved through further growth in its customer numbers – which now exceed 134,000 – alongside the full-year positive impact of the Christian Super Successor Fund Transfer (SFT) undertaken in the prior year.
It clarified that the Christian Super acquisition added some $1.9 billion to its overall FUM.
