Liverpool wealth manager Rathbones reports surge in revenues and profits in first full year after Investec merger and now has £109.2bn of funds under management. Tony McDonough reports
Wealth management firm Rathbones is reporting strong figures in its first full year since the merger with Investec Wealth & Investment (IW&I).
In August 2023 Rathbones, which is based in the Port of Liverpool building, completed its £839m acquisition of IW&I. On Wednesday it published its financial results for the 12 months to December 31, 2024.
They reveal revenues of £859.9m, a big increase on the £571.1m reported for 2023. Similarly, pre-tax profit rose from £57.6m in 2023 to just under £100m in 2024. It now has £109.2bn of funds under management including £43bn from IW&I – up from £105.3bn.
Rathbones added that underlying profit before tax increased 79.1% to £227.6m. This reflected the acquisition and integration costs related to the combination with IW&I, along with higher amortisation charges following the transaction.
Chief executive, Paul Stockton, said: “2024 has been a very exciting year for the group as we began in earnest to bring Rathbones and IW&I together as one combined business committed to helping our clients achieve their longer term financial goals.
“In an eventful year, we attracted record gross inflows by leveraging our enlarged platform, grew underlying operating margin, exceeded the 2024 synergy targets we set out for the IW&I combination, and increased our dividend by 6.9%.
“Throughout the year, we have continued to improve our services and investment processes, taking advantage of the best that the Rathbones and IW&I teams have to offer.
“The combination creates some significant future growth opportunities and provides a pathway to greater innovation as ideas are shared and acted upon.”
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Following the results the board has recommended a final dividend of 63p per share for 2024, compared with 24p in 2023. This brings the total dividend for the year to 93p, against 87p in 2023 – an increase of 6.9%.
Rathbones was started by the Rathbone family in Liverpool in the 1720s as a timber merchant. It later moved into shipping, overseas trade and financial services.