In its August funds under management (FUM) update, the ASX-listed asset manager reported outflows of $454 million. This marked the second-largest outflow of the year, following a $1.6 billion withdrawal in May and reduced FUM to $7.5 billion.
The firm said the outflows comprise $336 million from its Platinum Trust fund and $75 million from the Platinum Asia Fund Complex ETF. These movements are tied to a scheme of arrangement, which involved the Platinum Asia Listed Investment Company transitioning into the Platinum Asia Fund Complex ETF. The ETF also incurred a $74 million special dividend and a $22 million tax payment.
There had been a similar plan to transform the Platinum Capital listed investment company into a Platinum International Fund Complex ETF, but this plan was scrapped after facing pushback from major shareholder L1 Capital, which is due to merge with the asset manager if shareholder approval is gained.
Platinum Asset Management’s outflows are likely to rise further after the firm warned it expects to lose $580 million from its Platinum Trust fund by November following a major client’s manager review.
This marks Platinum’s third major client withdrawal this year, following a $958 million institutional mandate exit and a smaller $360 million withdrawal in May, which drove that month’s net outflows to $1.6 billion – the company’s largest monthly net outflows in over a year.
In its full-year FY2024–25 results, Platinum Asset Management reported total outflows of $5.6 billion, comprising $3.1 billion from retail investors and $2.3 billion from institutional clients.
While institutional outflows actually saw a small 5 per cent decrease from those seen in FY23–24, retail flows were 33 per cent higher than the previous year when they stood at $2.3 billion.
The majority of these outflows come from its flagship Platinum International Fund, which experienced underperformance during the financial year, as well as the loss of its managers Andrew Clifford and Clay Smolinski in February.
