Australian Ethical Investment Limited (ASX: AEF) released its full-year results today, with shares pushing more than 1% higher in early afternoon trade.
Here’s my quick-take on Australian Ethical’s report…
Ethical concerns abound, assets doubled
Australian Ethical bucked the trend of investment managers like Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX: PTM) losing funds under management to low-cost passive strategies.
The ethical investment manager added $660 million for the financial year, doubling the inflow from 2019.
Recent events with AMP Limited (ASX: AMP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) have once again brought the importance of ESG or Environment, Social and Governance considerations to the front of investors’ minds.
The group hit $4 billion in assets, boosting revenue by 22% to $49.9 million, with the benefits of scale adding 46% to profit which came in at $9.5 million.
Such was the strength of the result that management increased the full-year dividend by 20% to 6 cents per share. This includes a final dividend of 2.5 cents per share and a special performance fee dividend of 1 cent per share.
The result was driven by substantial outperformance from its Emerging Companies and Australian Shares Funds, both beating benchmarks and delivering performance fees.
The group is one of the few in Australia that focuses solely on “future building” industries that are delivering a positive impact. It refuses to invest in fossil fuels, nuclear power, and tobacco and is one of just a few B Corps in Australia; like us at Wattle Partners.
My take: New growth player in the funds management space.
For a detailed write-up on Australian Ethical’s report, check out this article from Rask Media’s Jaz Harrison: FY20 report: Australian Ethical (ASX:AEF) share price on watch
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