Rathbones unit trust redemptions slow to £41m

Rathbone Unit Trust Management has continued to suffer redemptions from investors over the first half of the year, with the group posting a £41m net outflow.

The unit trust business of Rathbone Brothers has been able to slow the outflow pressure however, with the figure much improved on the £180m stripped from the group's funds in the corresponding period of 2009.

Under the new management of industry veteran Mike Webb, the group has improved its pre-tax profits to £465,000.

This is up from £148,000 profit for the second half of 2009 and the £339,000 loss in H1 last year.

Funds under management at Rathbone Unit Trust Management now sits at £877m.

Rathbone Brothers CEO Andy Pomfret says Webb has made a positive start to his tenure as chief executive and believes the profit improvement largely reflects the impact of cost action taken last year and more favourable market conditions.

Total funds under management for the Rathbone Brothers group climbed 1.5% to £13.3bn at 30 June, which includes the £284m of assets acquired from the Lloyds Banking Group.