Wealth manager Brooks Macdonald has reported full-year net outflows of £0.4bn for the year ended 30 June.

There was a marked improvement in net outflows during the second half of the financial year, with the second half seeing net outflows of only £0.1bn compared to £0.3bn in the first half.

The wealth manager saw £5m of net outflows in the quarter ending 30 June, a 96% fall from the £129m reported the previous quarter and its lowest outflows for two years.

Brooks Macdonald has been striving to recover after being hit by net outflows in 2023 and cutting 10% of staff. It said the cuts from its 512-strong workforce were designed to ensure it was, “set up for success, organised to deliver its strategy and drive growth.”

In its full financial results this morning, the wealth manager said that revenues increased 4.6% for the year to £111.6m, supported by higher Financial Planning income.

Total funds under management and advice increased by 17% to £19.2bn. Advised only assets were £2.6bn.

However, underlying profit before tax fell 4.6% to £28.9m, representing a margin of 25.9%. Brooks said the fall in profits was largely due to higher acquisition and integration costs.

In July Brooks Macdonald launched a new Financial Planning brand known as Brooks Financial. It said the brand has been launched to recognise the growing scale of Brooks Macdonald’s Financial Planning business following the acquisitions of LIFT-Financial, Lucas Fettes and CST.

The company said Brooks Financial brings together all former Financial Planning companies under one unified brand, reflecting the scale and ambition of Brooks Macdonald in delivering high quality, independent Financial Planning advice to clients across the UK.

Andrea Montague, CEO of Brooks Macdonald, said the firm’s refocus on the UK has helped it build momentum.

She said: "This year we have focused on the execution of our strategy to reignite growth. We are now a UK-focused wealth manager. We have created a scalable Financial Planning business. We have launched a suite of retirement strategies that meet a growing client need and continue to deliver strong investment performance.”

Andrea Montague took over as CEO of Brooks Macdonald on 1 October 2024, since which time it has made several acquisitions.

Earlier this year it completed the acquisition of Chartered Financial Planners LIFT-Financial Group Limited and LIFT-Invest for £45m, Welsh Chartered Financial Planning firm CST Wealth Management for an undisclosed sum and £890m AUA Norwich-based Lucas Fettes Financial Planning.

It completed the sale of Brooks Macdonald Asset Management (International) to Canaccord Genuity Wealth in February. The firm chose to sell its international operations following a strategic review. Canaccord paid an initial consideration of £28m, with a further contingent sum of up to £22.85m payable in cash two years post-completion, subject to performance criteria.

Brooks Macdonald also completed the process of moving its share listing from AIM to the London Stock Exchange main market in March. Since then it has also completed an £8.1m share buyback, acquiring and cancelling 528,000 shares.