Funds under management at Australian Ethical have reached a record high of $9 billion, increasing by 45 per cent since the end of June 2022.
The ethical investment manager highlighted it had seen $90 million in positive net flows from 31 March to 31 May despite current market conditions.
Positive investment performance in the period contributed some $170 million of net growth.
Superannuation flows remained particularly resilient at around $7 billion, Australian Ethical noted. In comparison, managed funds stood at almost $2 billion.
“The business is now better positioned than ever for further headline and earnings growth following the successful integration of the Christian Super successor funds transfer (SFT) and following positive investments’ returns, and organic net cash flows,” said managing director, John Murdo.
Following the SFT in November 2022, Australian Ethical confirmed the initial integration program had been delivered, combining management and consolidating into a single investment management platform. With the merger, it had gained over 28,000 members to its superannuation fund.
The merger with Christian Super had come about after the fund failed the Your Future, Your Super performance test and was urged to merge with a larger fund by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
“The higher level of funds under management now presents Australian Ethical the opportunity to both continue to invest in the business to capture the significant addressable market for responsible investing, and simultaneously see operating leverage emerge in the future earnings profile of the business,” it said.
Looking ahead, the fund expected strong headline growth in FY23, predicting revenue to be over 20 per cent higher than the first half, driven by higher average FUM.
Underlying profit after tax (UPAT) was expected to sit in a range of $6.3 million to $6.8 million, taking full year UPAT before performance fees for the year ending 30 June 2023 to a range between $11.3 million and $11.8 million.
