Shares of Brooks Macdonald climbed 2.9% to 1364p in trading today after the London-listed wealth manager published its long-awaited fourth-quarter and full-year FY26 update on funds under management and advice. The update confirmed a return to positive net flows for the group for the first time in recent years.
The company reported full-year net inflows of £226 million for FY26, compared with net outflows of £396 million in the prior fiscal year. The momentum was concentrated in the final quarter, which delivered net inflows of £167 million against net outflows of £5 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
Market reaction was supported by a favourable analyst backdrop ahead of the announcement. Berenberg had recently argued that Brooks Macdonald shares were significantly undervalued relative to peers in the wealth management sector, pointing to an EV/EBIT multiple that, in the bank’s view, did not fully reflect the industry’s long-term structural growth drivers or the improved flow trajectory for the group.
Those analysts identified FY26 as an inflection point, forecasting a return to revenue and operating margin growth after several years of headwinds. The numbers released today appear consistent with that view.
The wider UK market provided a mildly positive but effectively neutral environment for the stock. The FTSE 100 traded in a narrow range around 10,665 to 10,747, indicating that Brooks Macdonald’s relative strength was driven by company-specific developments rather than a broad market tailwind.
Peers in the UK wealth management sector such as Charles Stanley and Mattioli Woods did not issue comparable updates today, leaving Brooks Macdonald’s shares to move on the basis of its own fundamentals.
Taken together, the clear reversal in flows documented in the FY26 FUMA update, an existing analyst case for a rerating, and a stable market backdrop created the conditions for the share price move. The stock reached an intraday peak of 1405p before trimming gains to close at the session level noted above. Despite today’s advance, the shares remain well below their 52-week high of 1880p, suggesting investors may still be pricing in execution risk ahead of the publication of full financial results due in September.
Context and implications
- The FY26 inflow figures represent a material swing from the previous year’s outflows and are concentrated in the final quarter.
- Analyst expectations that FY26 would mark an inflection point for revenue and operating margin growth are supported by the flow reversal reported today.
- The move in Brooks Macdonald shares appears to be driven primarily by company-specific news rather than broader UK market performance.
Investors will likely watch the full FY26 financial statements due in September to assess whether the positive flow momentum translates into sustainable revenue and margin recovery.