Insignia Financial trims $5bn off FUM

Market volatility and institutional outflows shaved $5 billion off Insignia Financial's funds under management (FUM) last quarter.

In the March quarter, Insignia Financial said about $1.8 billion of the $3 billion an institutional client poured into its domestic fixed income capabilities at the end of 2024 were redeemed. It said this was due to rebalancing and asset allocation requirements of the institution.

This, combined with market volatility, saw a total decrease of $5 billion in the wealth manager's FUM, now coming in at $321.8 billion. This is spread across Wrap ($97.7bn), superannuation ($129.8bn), and asset management ($94.2bn).

The Wrap business' assets were down 1.4% due to negative market movements and $608 million in pension payments, though partially offset by net inflows of $393 million. The MLC Expand Advised products saw close to $500 million in net inflows in the quarter.

The super, or Master Trust, division was also down 1.9% - again, on the back of market volatility and pension payments of more than $300 million. It also saw net outflows of $628 million. The advised channel had net outflows of $348 million.

Meantime, the asset management unit's FUM decreased by 1.2%. While net inflows were positive, particularly driven by the managed accounts offering, it was fixed income that saw outflows here.

"Institutional net flows can be volatile quarter on quarter, particularly within fixed income due to the large institutional client base who use the capability's cash and enhanced cash strategies as a source of short-term liquidity," Insignia Financial said.

Meanwhile, Insignia Financial chief executive Scott Hartley said the business is on track with its strategic initiatives, including the SS&C deal and the revitalisation of the MLC brand for consumers.

"We announced last week that we had agreed to requests from both Bain Capital and CC Capital to extend the exclusivity period in relation to the non-binding and indicative proposals to acquire Insignia Financial," he added.

"We remain focused on ensuring the best outcome for shareholders from this process, while also continuing to deliver our strategic priorities to build the foundation for resilient and sustainable growth.

"We continue to focus on delivering our remaining FY25 initiatives, including accelerated cost optimisation and the Master Trust transition to SS&C and continuing to execute on our business plan."