Tags
% of AUM, Andreas Rialas, ARGO, Argo Group, asset managers, Charlemagne Capital, Dolphin Capital Investors, Ex-Cash Ratios, F&C Asset Management, Impax Asset Management Group, Investor Relations, Kyriakos Rialas, Miton Group, NAV discount, The Argo Fund, Third Point, UK
In April, I took a closer look at the universe of UK-listed asset managers. A key piece of research was a (relatively) simple analysis which focused on financial stability & market valuation – this study also offered a useful peer comparison with Argo Group Ltd. (ARGO:LN) (& see this recent post).
Frankly, the numbers (plus the rest of this post) speak for themselves, but let’s have a taste of the main highlights:
| Name | Ticker | Net Cash/Inv as % of Mkt Cap | |
| F&C Asset Management | FCAM | (23)% | |
| Liontrust Asset Management | LIO | 3.9% | |
| Henderson Group | HGG | 6.2% | |
| Aberdeen Asset Management | ADN | 7.9% | |
| Jupiter Fund Management | JUP | 8.4% | |
| Polar Capital Holdings | POLR | 16% | |
| Ashmore Group | ASHM | 18% | |
| Miton Group | MGR | 26% | |
| Schroders | SDR | 34% | |
| Man Group | EMG | 55% | |
| Impax Asset Management Group | IPX | 59% | |
| Charlemagne Capital | CCAP | 64% | |
| Median | 17% | ||
| Argo Group | ARGO | 175% |
It’s encouraging to see the entire sector now enjoys robust financial health. Only F&C Asset Management (FCAM:LN) is in a net debt position – all other companies sport net cash & investments on their balance sheets. But it’s also clear this healthy financial position is not the key driver of market valuations – for Argo’s peer group, net cash/investments only represents a median 17% of market cap. On the other hand, Argo’s $23.6 mio of net cash/investments amounts to a whopping 175% of its market cap.
