Platinum reports lowest outflows in 18 months
Platinum Asset Management has announced an easing of the outflows experienced in 2024 as it reports its funds under management (FUM) in January.
In a monthly FUM update, the firm said total FUM was largely unchanged at $10.99 billion, compared to $11.05 billion in December.
During the month, it experienced outflows of $160 million, some $138 million of which came from its Platinum Trust funds. This compares to $289 million in outflows experienced during December and $841 million experienced in November.
The figure is the firm’s smallest redemption since July 2023 when it saw outflows of just $98 million, with the business having experienced fund performance problems and declining revenue.
The worst month was April 2024 when the firm lost $1.6 billion, thanks to the withdrawal of $1.4 billion from institutional mandates and product rationalisation initiatives.
While the start of 2025 is positive, the tide has not yet turned for the asset manager with Morningstar research forecasting further outflows expected over the next five years at 20.1 per cent of its FUM per annum.
In its Australian Asset Manager report for Q2 FY2024–25, which surveyed seven active asset managers, it forecast a rapid loss of institutional mandates to persist for Platinum and said a significant business reset is needed. Shares in Platinum are down 34 per cent over the past year, and its FUM has declined from $15.4 billion in December 2023 to $11 billion in December 2024.
“Platinum was the weakest performer, with subpar returns, sluggish flows, and an aborted acquisition by Regal Partners.
“The projected increase in Platinum’s fee margins reflects a mix shift to retail funds with a rapid loss of institutional mandates, which we expect to persist. However, we project fees for Platinum’s underlying strategies to compress, with a significant business reset needed to stay competitive amid weak performance and the aborted acquisition attempt by Regal.”
During January, the firm appointed Northern Trust to provide asset servicing solutions for its Australian funds. Under the new mandate, Northern Trust will provide custody, fund administration, regulatory reporting, investment operations outsourcing (IOO), ETF administration and collateral management.
Andrew Stannard, finance director at Platinum, said: “When we decided to switch to a new asset servicing provider, many factors came into play. Northern Trust’s consultative approach stood out from the start. We also felt a strong cultural fit between our organisations and we are excited to embark on this new journey with Northern Trust.”
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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