Polar Capital : AuM Update

9 January 2020 Polar Capital Holdings plc

AuM Update

Polar Capital Holdings plc ('Polar Capital' or the 'Group'), the specialist active asset management group, today provides its regular quarterly update of its unaudited statement of its Assets under Management ('AUM') and performance fees earned for the calendar year to 31 December 2019.

Group AUM (unaudited)

Polar Capital reports that as at 31 December 2019 its AuM were £14.2bn compared to £13.8bn at the end of March 2019, an increase of 3% over the period. During the period, AuM increased by £0.4bn which comprised net outflows of £1.1bn offset by an increase of £1.5bn related to market movement and fund performance.

AuM movement in nine months to 31 December 2019	Long-only funds	Alternative funds	Total
AuM at 1 April 2019	£12,529m	£1,306m	£13,835m
Net subscriptions	£(1,132)m	£61m	£(1,071)m
Market movement and performance	£1,397m	£60m	£1,457m
Total AuM at 31 December 2019	£12,794m	£1,427m	£14,221m

Net performance fees(unaudited)

The table below sets out the position relating to net performance fee profits (after the deduction of staff interests) earned in the first nine months of the Group's financial year.

Performance fee profit net of staff allocations	Nine months to 31 Dec 18	Year to 31 Mar 19 (year-end)	Nine months to 31 Dec 19*
Net performance fee profit	£23.6m	£24.0m	£8.8m*

*The figures to December 2019 are reduced by what is expected to be circa £1.4m of net deferment that IFRS requires to be deducted from this year's receipts.

Gavin Rochussen, Chief Executive, commented:

'Although AuM in the nine months has increased by £400m from £13.8bn to £14.2bn, it has been another challenging quarter. Net outflows of £623m were offset by an increase in AuM of £542m from market and performance movements resulting in a decline in AuM in the quarter of £81m.

'The election result and reduced Brexit uncertainty increased demand for our UK Value Fund which had net inflows of £100m in December. On the other hand, clients continued to reduce their exposure to North American equities. This led to net outflows from our North American Fund of £611m in the quarter, which includes the reallocation of a client mandate away from North American equities to alternative asset classes.

'The Japan Value Fund continued to perform well and had net inflows in December of £48m marking an end to multi-year monthly outflows from our Japan funds.

'In the nine month period to 31 December we were not immune to the challenging conditions experienced by the industry as a whole; total net outflows amounted to £1.1bn which was dominated by net outflows of £453m from the Japan Fund prior to the merger with the Japan Value Fund, net outflows from our North American strategy of £795m and an aggregate £500m redemption by a long-standing client in our Technology and Healthcare Funds.

'It is pleasing to report net inflows over the nine months into the majority of our Funds including Global Technology, Japan Value, UK Value Opportunities, GEM Stars, Asia and China Stars, Global Insurance, European ex-UK Income, Global Convertible Bonds, Global (Convertibles) Absolute Return, UK Absolute Equity and China Mercury.

'Fund performance across the range of our funds was strong in the last quarter of the calendar year resulting in crystallised net performance fee profits of £8.8m for the period to 31 December.

'Over three years annualised, 67% of our Funds and 81% of AuM have outperformed their respective benchmarks.

'We have a diverse and complementary range of fund strategies with proven track records. We remain confident that, over the long term, our active fundamental strategies will continue to deliver above average returns for our clients and compelling total returns for our shareholders.'

For further information please contact:

Polar Capital Gavin Rochussen (Chief Executive) John Mansell (Executive Director) Samir Ayub (Finance Director)	[phone]
Numis Securities Limited - Nomad and Joint Broker Charles Farquhar Stephen Westgate Kevin Cruickshank (QE)	[phone]
Peel Hunt LLP - Joint Broker Guy Wiehahn Andrew Buchanan	[phone]
Camarco Ed Gascoigne-Pees Monique Perks	[phone]