After five consecutive months of positive flows at Magellan, April saw $0.2 billion in institutional inflows offset by the same volume of retail outflows.
In an update to the ASX, the fund manager said its funds under management (FUM) were $36.3 billion, down slightly by 2.6 per cent from $37.3 billion at the end of April.
Both retail and institutional channels saw a decline during the month; retail FUM was $17.1 billion down from $17.8 billion, while institutional FUM was $19.2 billion, down from $19.5 billion.
“In April, net flows were flat and comprised net retail outflows of $0.2 billion and institutional inflows of $0.2 billion,” the firm said.
Looking at the different asset classes offered by the manager, the largest change was seen in its global equities division – which includes its flagship Global Fund – which fell from $16.2 billion in March to $15.6 billion.
Infrastructure FUM fell from $15.6 billion to $15.4 billion, while Australian equities saw a drop from $5.5 billion to $5.3 billion.
The firm had a difficult 2023 with 10 months of FUM declines but has been making improvements with five months of consecutive FUM increases since November. FUM rose by 2.6 per cent in November, the first FUM rise since January 2023 and the first full month since the exit of former chief executive David George.
Average FUM during the second half of 2023 was $36.9 billion, 31 per cent lower than the average during the second half of 2022 which stood at $53.8 billion.
Since then, it has appointed Sophia Rahmani to take over as managing director this month. Joining from her role as chief executive of Maple-Brown Abbott, she will hold the position alongside Andrew Formica as executive chair and expect to transition to the CEO role within 12 months at which point Formica will move to a non-executive position.
The role will see her take responsibility for investment, distribution, information technology, human resources, risk and compliance functions. Formica said Rahmani will focus on the fund management business, while he will look after the “strategic development” of the wider Magellan business.
