Perpetual grows adviser numbers despite COVID-19
A third quarter update from major financial services house, Perpetual has revealed the full magnitude of the impacts of COVID-19, with the company reporting a 19% decline in funds under management (FUA) and a 13% decline in funds under advice.
Delivering to the third quarter update to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) today, Perpetual nonetheless said its acquisition of US-based Trillium Asset Management remained on track for completion by 30 June, this year.
Commenting on the update, Perpetual chief executive and managing director, Rob Adams acknowledged that COVID-19 had had a dramatic impact on global investment markets, “leading to some of the sharpest declines in decades and some of the highest volatility in history during March”.
However, he noted that unlike pure-play asset managers, 40% of Perpetual’s total revenue were not directly linked to investment markets which provided the company with some protection from global investment market volatility.
Where Perpetual Private was concerned, the company reported that FUA of $13.2 billion had decreased by $2 billion for the quarter.
Nonetheless it noted that Perpetual Private had welcomed 12 new advisers during the period across its Melbourne and Sydney offices with one more to start later in the year.
It said this meant the company had added 20 new advisers since it started its growth initiative bringing the total number of advisers to 82.
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