The largest management companies significantly increased revenue in the first half of the year

According to the results of the first half of the year, the largest management companies significantly increased their core business revenue. The total remuneration of the management company amounted to 33.7 billion rubles, which is one third higher than in the same period last year. The most noticeable growth in revenue was demonstrated by companies whose main business is institutional investors, as well as small companies specializing in working with closed-end investment funds.

According to the results of the first half of the year, revenue from trust management services of Russian management companies (MCs) grew by 34%, to 33.7 billion rubles. This follows from the reports of 69 companies and groups, whose revenue for the past year exceeded 100 million rubles. The favorable situation on the stock market had a key impact on the MC’s performance. In the first half of the year, the Moscow Exchange index grew by almost 30%.

Traditionally, the main volume of revenue was provided by companies, a significant part of whose business is accounted for by private investors, but for most of them, the growth rate of the indicator was below the market average. The leaders in terms of revenue were Pervaya Management Company (4.46 billion rubles, which is almost 50% more than a year earlier), Alfa Capital (4.3 billion rubles, an increase of 1.7%), “ VIM Investments (2.4 billion rubles, an increase of 12.5%) and Raiffeisen Capital (1.8 billion rubles, an increase of 10.6%).

According to Kommersant’s estimates, based on Investfunds data, since the beginning of the year, private investors have invested in retail funds (OPIFs and BPIFs) over 23 billion rubles, of which 20 billion were in the funds of the First Management Company, in second place in terms of attraction – ” Alfa Capital (7 billion rubles).

“In the first half of the year, almost all of our funds overtook their benchmarks. Thus, the share of remuneration for success has increased in revenue, ”the press service of the First Company said.

Financial Director of Alfa Capital Alexander Spisivy explained the low growth rate of the company’s revenue by blocking the work of mutual funds with exposure to foreign assets. According to the Bank of Russia, at the end of the first half of the year, there were no transactions on the market with 113 mutual funds with assets of 154 billion rubles. “Revenue was also affected by a decrease in sales of structured products oriented to Western markets, and measures to retain customers with a significant share of blocked assets,” notes Mr. Spisivy.

The more than two-fold increase in revenue observed for a number of companies could be due to the receipt of remuneration from institutional clients. Diana Sergienko, director of ratings for insurance and investment companies at Expert RA, draws attention to the fact that last year some management companies that manage the funds of NPFs took advantage of the Central Bank’s incentives and fixed the value of securities.

The growth leaders were also small companies specializing in closed mutual funds. According to the Central Bank, the net inflow of funds to such funds over the past 12 months amounted to almost 1.2 trillion rubles. “ZPIF is a tool for more efficient ownership, management and protection of various types of assets, as well as for attracting investments and for retail investors to participate in large investment projects,” said Alexander Voronkov, General Director of TETIS Capital Management Company.

Under such conditions, companies have become more willing to increase the cost of doing business. Thus, administrative expenses in the market as a whole increased in the reporting period by 17.4%, to 3.8 billion rubles, personnel costs increased by a quarter, to 10.8 billion rubles. Dmitry Timofeev, General Director of TKB Investment Partners, spoke about plans to increase personnel costs against the backdrop of actively attracting new employees.

Market participants are cautious about the prospects for the coming quarters due to the tightening of monetary policy by the Bank of Russia.

In August, the Central Bank raised the key rate from 8.5% to 12%, followed by an increase in deposit rates, which reduces the competitiveness of investment products. Therefore, according to Dmitry Timofeev, the main driver of growth in the financial performance of companies can be the variable part of the remuneration that the management company receives from investment income on portfolios. But it is highly dependent on market conditions. Therefore, as Alexander Spisivy notes, the company sees the development of alternative investment products as a priority for business development: closed-end real estate funds, investment solutions both in our market and in friendly jurisdictions that can protect investments from rising inflation.

Vitaly Gaidaev, Dmitry Ladygin