Vote of confidence for Myddleton as funds increase to £49.8m

The Leeds-based discretionary portfolio manager, which was founded in 2006 by CEO David Cowell and employs seven people in the city, recorded the figure in the year to the end of December, 2012.

Julie Jones, director, who joined Myddleton Croft in September last year, said: “The amount of business we received over the past year was a 50:50 split between direct business from independent financial advisers (IFAs) into predominantly our enhanced income portfolio, which is not available on a platform, and via platforms into predominantly a balanced portfolio with moderate risk.”

Myddleton Croft’s enhanced income portfolio, which is mainly non-equity based, produced a total return of 65.6 per cent over a five-year period, versus six per cent interest compound over the same period and returning just under 34 per cent.

She said Myddleton Croft has attracted investors “disappointed with the low interest rate world that we are in and looking to get more from their money without necessarily taking too much risk”.

Mrs Jones said Myddleton Croft, which is owned by its executives and family, aims for those clients that are “priced out of the marketplace” by the big players.

On the growth in new business, Mr Cowell said: “We thank all the independent financial advisers who have introduced their clients to us and we have rewarded them with decent performance and a high quality of service. It’s a vote of confidence that we really appreciate. We will continue to build on our IFA relationships whilst they adjust to the new regulatory changes.”

A landmark shake-up of the financial advice market, known as the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), took effect at the start of the year, forcing advisers to spell out their costs to customers and cutting the risk of mis-selling.

Mrs Jones said: “Our portfolio management service is already benefitting from RDR, as demonstrated by the increasing number of IFAs outsourcing the investment management part of their proposition to us.”

Mr Cowell also spoke of the expansion of services into the North-East, North-West and North Wales in the past year.