Brooks Macdonald Reports Strongest Quarter in Three Years as Reignite Growth Strategy Delivers £600m Improvement in Net Flows

Brooks Macdonald Q4 2026 update shows strongest net inflows in three years

Brooks Macdonald has delivered a much better end to the year than investors saw in FY25. The big headline is net inflows of £167 million in Q4, which the company says is its strongest quarter in three years and its third straight quarter of improving net flows.

That matters because net flows – the money coming in from clients minus the money going out – are one of the clearest signs of whether a wealth manager is winning or losing business. On that measure, Brooks Macdonald looks to have turned a corner.

For the full year, the group posted net inflows of £226 million, compared with net outflows of £396 million in FY25. That is an improvement of more than £600 million year on year, exactly the kind of shift management wanted to show from its Reignite Growth strategy.

Brooks Macdonald FY26 key numbers: net flows, FUMA and investment performance

Metric | FY26 / Q4 26 | Comparison
Q4 net flows | £167 million | Q3 26: £58 million
FY26 net flows | £226 million | FY25: £396 million net outflows
Total FUMA | £21.7 billion | 30 June 2025: £19.1 billion
Total FUM | £19.3 billion | 30 June 2025: £16.5 billion
Q4 market and investment performance | £1.5 billion | FY26: £2.5 billion
PMPS FUM | £8.0 billion | Up 35% year on year
BPS FUM | £9.3 billion | Up 9% year on year
Assets under advice in Brooks Financial | £5.7 billion | FY25: £5.3 billion

Why the Brooks Macdonald net flow turnaround matters more than the FUMA rise

There are two ways a wealth manager grows assets. One is markets going up. The other is attracting more client money than it loses. Brooks Macdonald had both in FY26, but the more important of the two is the improvement in net flows.

Market and investment performance added £2.5 billion over the year, which is obviously helpful. But markets can be generous one year and awkward the next. Net inflows tell you more about the underlying health of the business, and here the trend is clearly better.

Investors should also note the progression through the year. Quarterly total FUM net flows moved from a £49 million outflow in Q1, to a £50 million inflow in Q2, then £58 million in Q3, and finally £167 million in Q4. That is the sort of momentum the market tends to like because it suggests the recovery is building rather than stalling.

Platform MPS growth is doing the heavy lifting for Brooks Macdonald

The standout division was Platform MPS, which stands for platform managed portfolio service. In simple terms, this is a managed investment offering distributed through financial adviser platforms. It brought in net inflows of £272 million in Q4 and £915 million across FY26.

That helped Platform MPS funds under management rise 35% to £8.0 billion by year end. The annualised net flow growth rate in this part of the business was 15.3%, which is strong by any reasonable standard.

This matters because scalable platform assets can be attractive operationally. Brooks Macdonald also said gross inflows were broadly spread across PMPS and Brooks Macdonald Strategic Partnerships, its business-to-business adviser offering, with increasing flows into its newer Modelled Retirement Strategy and Global MPS products. That suggests demand is not hanging on a single product line.

Brooks Private Service is improving, but not fully fixed yet

The other important piece is BPS, or Brooks Private Service, which is the firm’s more traditional discretionary wealth management arm. Here the news is better, but not spotless.

BPS still posted net outflows of £20 million in Q4, so it has not yet returned to net growth. That said, this was a big improvement from the £132 million net outflow in Q3. For the full year, BPS had net outflows of £363 million, which is still a weak result, but the trend into the year end was clearly heading in the right direction.

There was also a useful quality marker here. BPS FUM rose 9% to £9.3 billion, and the number of clients with portfolios above £1 million increased by 15% versus FY25. That hints Brooks Macdonald is making progress with wealthier clients who tend to need more complex advice and can be stickier relationships.

Brooks Financial adds another growth leg through financial planning

Brooks Financial, the group’s financial planning business, also looks to be contributing more meaningfully now. Assets under advice rose to £5.7 billion from £5.3 billion.

Within that, assets that are both advised and managed increased 20% to £3.3 billion and now represent 58% of assets under advice, up from 51% at FY25. That is a useful shift because it shows more clients are using a broader slice of the group’s offering rather than just advice on its own.

Advised-only assets fell to £2.4 billion from £2.6 billion. On its own, that is not ideal, but in context it may reflect clients moving into offerings where Brooks Macdonald both advises and manages the money, which is potentially more valuable to the group.

Fee changes on cash look sensible and should not hurt profits much

Brooks Macdonald also said it will no longer charge fees on cash held in its discretionary funds from 1 July 2026. This follows the evolving regulatory environment and the FCA consultation on client cash in investment portfolios.

For clients, that is likely to be seen as a fair and sensible move. For investors worried about the profit impact, management says cash is an immaterial share of discretionary portfolios and that the policy change is expected to be immaterial to future financial performance. In plain English, it should not move the dial much financially.

What retail investors should make of this Brooks Macdonald RNS

My read is that this is a good update. Not perfect, but good. The most important thing is that Brooks Macdonald is no longer trying to explain away weak flows while relying on markets to flatter the asset base.

The numbers suggest the strategy is starting to work. Platform MPS is growing strongly, the private client business is stabilising, financial planning is adding support, and overall group net flows have swung back into positive territory.

The main caution is that one part of the story still needs finishing. BPS remains in annual net outflow, and some smaller lines such as MPS Custody and Funds also stayed negative for net flows in FY26. So this is a recovery in progress, not a completed turnaround.

Still, when a wealth manager delivers its best quarter for net flows in three years, lifts total FUMA to £21.7 billion, and says full-year performance should be in line with market expectations, that is the kind of update shareholders usually want to see. It gives the market a cleaner base heading into the full-year results on 3 September 2026.

Brooks Macdonald Q4 2026 RNS verdict: positive momentum, with more to prove

Positive: Q4 net inflows of £167 million were the strongest in three years.

Positive: FY26 net flows improved to £226 million from £396 million of net outflows in FY25.

Positive: Platform MPS is growing quickly, with FUM up 35% to £8.0 billion.

Positive: Total FUMA increased to £21.7 billion and total FUM to £19.3 billion.

Negative: BPS still had full-year net outflows of £363 million, despite a much better Q4.

Neutral to positive: The no-fee-on-cash change looks client-friendly and is expected to be immaterial financially.

Bottom line: this RNS reads like a business regaining traction. If Brooks Macdonald can keep flows positive and get BPS over the line into sustained net inflows, the turnaround story will look far more convincing.