The drop in profit partly reflects changes the firm made to its cost structure during 2008.
Collins Stewart, which has offices in Guernsey, Jersey and London, saw its profits dip from £13.5m in 2008 to £10.1m last year, with its revenue falling by over £3m to £43.7m due to lower transaction volumes and tighter operating margins. Its recurring revenues, including management fees, proved resilient however, increasing from 46% to 48% of its total revenue.
Total assets under management increased by 20.4% over the year to £5.9bn, supported by net inflows of £332m into its discretionary, advisory and non-advisory arms. The firm said continued inflows were expected from both its local business development efforts in each of its jurisdictions, together with its recent initiatives such as the intermediary sales team, cash management service and corporate executive and employee trading desk.
Collins Stewart has set out a target to achieve a total of £10bn of assets under administration for its wealth management division by the end of 2012 and, as reported by International Adviser, has purchased Guernsey and Geneva based firm Corazon Capital Group which has a total of £382m of assets under management.
