New client money lifts Brewin Dolphin

The company, which has an office in Leeds, said a 17 per cent increase in income from investment management offset a 13 per cent decline at its corporate advisory and broking business during the 14 weeks to December 31.

Speaking about current trading, executive chairman Jamie Matheson said: “Favourable trading conditions in the first quarter continued into January. As ever, in the short term, the group is dependent on market movement.”

The total value of Brewin’s managed funds grew by seven per cent from the previous quarter to £24.8bn, boosted by rising stock markets and also helped by £500m of new money.

Brewin said it expects a levy on the financial industry to cover the burden of compensating major investment failures to cost it £6m, compared with a similar charge of £1m last year.

The group’s shares closed up 0.3 per cent, a rise of 0.5p to 163p.

Analyst Danielle James at Shore Capital said the group had seen good growth in both income and discretionary funds under management, adding a buy recommendation on the stock.

“Underlying performance across the quarter appears to have been strong,” she said. “We expect 2011 to be a strong year for Brewins. An uptick in corporate transactions in the market should see an enhanced contribution from its corporate broking division and continued fragility within the macro-economic environment could continue to drive investors to seek the more comprehensive and higher yielding discretionary fund management service.”