TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
AGF Management Limited (AGF or the Company) (TSX: AGF.B) today announced financial results for the third quarter ended August 31, 2024.
AGF reported total assets under management and fee-earning assets1 of $49.7 billion compared to $47.8 billion as at May 31, 2024 and $42.3 billion as at August 31, 2023.
“Amid an uncertain economic backdrop and significant market volatility, we are pleased to see early signs of improvement with positive retail net flows complementing our solid investment performance,” said Kevin McCreadie, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, AGF. “This improvement can be attributed to our long-term strategic plan which diversifies our business across asset classes and client channels ensuring we thrive through changing market cycles.”
AGF’s mutual fund gross sales were $1,012 million for the quarter compared to $934 million in the previous quarter and $633 million in the prior year quarter. Mutual fund net sales were $14 million compared to net redemptions of $112 million in the previous quarter and net redemptions of $151 million in the prior year quarter.
“Given the current market environment and industry trends, we are pleased with the trajectory of our sales strategy,” said Judy Goldring, President and Head of Global Distribution, AGF. “Heading into the final months of 2024, we remain focused on diversifying our capabilities and offerings through a vehicle agnostic approach that meets the evolving needs of our clients.”
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1 Fee-earning assets represents assets in which AGF has carried interest ownership and earns recurring fees but does not have ownership interest in the managers
Key Business and Financial Highlights:
| Three months ended | Nine months ended | |||||||||||||||
| August 31, | May 31, | August 31, | August 31, | August 31, | ||||||||||||
| (in millions of Canadian dollars, except per share data) | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||
| Revenues | ||||||||||||||||
| Management, advisory and administration fees | $ | 114.4 | $ | 116.4 | $ | 107.4 | $ | 339.4 | $ | 324.0 | ||||||
| Trailing commissions and investment advisory fees | (35.7 | ) | (35.2 | ) | (33.6 | ) | (104.6 | ) | (101.5 | ) | ||||||
| Net management, advisory and administration fees2 | $ | 78.7 | $ | 81.2 | $ | 73.8 | $ | 234.8 | $ | 222.5 | ||||||
| Deferred sales charges | 1.4 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 5.3 | 5.7 | |||||||||||
| Adjusted revenue from AGF Capital Partners2 | 18.5 | 12.0 | 7.3 | 54.7 | 29.4 | |||||||||||
| Other revenue2 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 5.1 | 2.4 | |||||||||||
| Total adjusted net revenue2 | 99.8 | 97.0 | 84.0 | 299.9 | 260.0 | |||||||||||
| Selling, general and administrative | 66.3 | 68.2 | 50.2 | 192.3 | 156.2 | |||||||||||
| Adjusted selling, general and administrative2 | 59.6 | 60.0 | 50.3 | 173.1 | 155.0 | |||||||||||
| EBITDA2 | 33.0 | 26.6 | 33.8 | 104.8 | 103.8 | |||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA2 | 40.2 | 37.0 | 33.7 | 126.8 | 105.0 | |||||||||||
| Net income - equity owners of the Company | 20.3 | 18.1 | 23.0 | 68.9 | 70.9 | |||||||||||
| Adjusted net income - equity owners of the Company | 24.5 | 23.6 | 22.9 | 81.8 | 71.9 | |||||||||||
| Diluted earnings per share | 0.30 | 0.27 | 0.34 | 1.03 | 1.05 | |||||||||||
| Adjusted diluted earnings per share | 0.37 | 0.35 | 0.34 | 1.23 | 1.07 | |||||||||||
| Free cash flow2 | 29.1 | 23.7 | 22.9 | 73.9 | 62.8 | |||||||||||
| Dividends per share | 0.115 | 0.115 | 0.110 | 0.340 | 0.320 | |||||||||||
| (end of period) | Three months ended | |||||||||||||||
| Aug. 31, | May 31, | Feb. 28, | Nov. 30, | Aug. 31, | ||||||||||||
| (in millions of Canadian dollars) | 2024 | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | 2023 | |||||||||||
| Mutual fund assets under management (AUM)3 | $ | 28,104 | $ | 26,961 | $ | 26,186 | $ | 24,459 | $ | 24,377 | ||||||
| ETFs and SMA AUM | 2,128 | 1,800 | 1,676 | 1,465 | 1,332 | |||||||||||
| Segregated accounts and sub-advisory AUM | 6,430 | 6,313 | 7,162 | 6,774 | 7,058 | |||||||||||
| Total AGF Investments AUM | 36,662 | 35,074 | 35,024 | 32,698 | 32,767 | |||||||||||
| AGF Private Wealth AUM | 8,186 | 8,026 | 7,836 | 7,341 | 7,360 | |||||||||||
| AGF Capital Partners AUM | 2,774 | 2,663 | 48 | 46 | 42 | |||||||||||
| Total AUM | $ | 47,622 | $ | 45,763 | $ | 42,908 | $ | 40,085 | $ | 40,169 | ||||||
| AGF Capital Partners fee-earning assets4 | 2,080 | 2,081 | 2,104 | 2,095 | 2,090 | |||||||||||
| Total AUM and fee-earning assets4 | $ | 49,702 | $ | 47,844 | $ | 45,012 | $ | 42,180 | $ | 42,259 | ||||||
| Net mutual fund sales (redemptions)3 | 14 | (112 | ) | (125 | ) | (224 | ) | (151 | ) | |||||||
| Average daily mutual fund AUM3 | 27,542 | 26,604 | 25,197 | 23,840 | 24,168 | |||||||||||
2 Net management, advisory and administration fees, adjusted revenue from AGF Capital Partners, total net revenue, adjusted selling, general and administrative, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow are not standardized measures prescribed by IFRS. The Company utilizes non-IFRS measures to assess our overall performance and facilitate a comparison of quarterly and full-year results from period to period. They allow us to assess our investment management business without the impact of non-operational items. These non-IFRS measures may not be comparable with similar measures presented by other companies. These non-IFRS measures and reconciliations to IFRS, where necessary, are included in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis available at www.agf.com.
3 Mutual fund AUM includes retail AUM and institutional client AUM invested in customized series offered within mutual funds.
4 Fee-earning assets represents assets in which AGF has carried interest ownership and earns recurring fees but does not have ownership interest in the managers.
For further information and detailed financial statements for the third quarter ended August 31, 2024, including Management’s Discussion and Analysis, which contains discussions of non-IFRS measures, please refer to AGF’s website at www.agf.com under ‘About AGF’ and ‘Investor Relations’ and at www.sedarplus.com.
Conference Call
AGF will host a conference call to review its earnings results today at 11 a.m. ET.
The live audio webcast with supporting materials will be available in the Investor Relations section of AGF’s website at www.agf.com or at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/fwjgan3c/. Alternatively, the call can be accessed over the phone by registering here or in the Investor Relations section of AGF’s website at www.agf.com, to receive the dial-in numbers and unique PIN.
A complete archive of this discussion along with supporting materials will be available at the same webcast address within 24 hours of the end of the conference call.
About AGF Management Limited
Founded in 1957, AGF Management Limited (AGF) is an independent and globally diverse asset management firm. Our companies deliver excellence in investing in the public and private markets through three business lines: AGF Investments, AGF Capital Partners and AGF Private Wealth.
AGF brings a disciplined approach, focused on incorporating sound, responsible and sustainable corporate practices. The firm’s collective investment expertise, driven by its fundamental, quantitative and private investing capabilities, extends globally to a wide range of clients, from financial advisors and their clients to high-net worth and institutional investors including pension plans, corporate plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations.
Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, AGF has investment operations and client servicing teams on the ground in North America and Europe. With nearly $50 billion in total assets under management and fee-earning assets, AGF serves more than 800,000 investors. AGF trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol AGF.B.
AGF Management Limited shareholders, analysts and media, please contact:
Ken Tsang
Chief Financial Officer
416-865-4338, InvestorRelations@agf.com
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements about the Company, including its business operations, strategy and expected financial performance and condition. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or include words such as ‘expects,’ ‘estimates,’ ‘anticipates,’ ‘intends,’ ‘plans,’ ‘believes’ or negative versions thereof and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as ‘may,’ ‘will,’ ‘should,’ ‘would’ and ‘could.’ In addition, any statement that may be made concerning future financial performance (including income, revenues, earnings or growth rates), ongoing business strategies or prospects, fund performance, and possible future action on our part, is also a forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are based on certain factors and assumptions, including expected growth, results of operations, business prospects, business performance and opportunities. While we consider these factors and assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events and are inherently subject to, among other things, risks, uncertainties and assumptions about our operations, economic factors and the financial services industry generally. They are not guarantees of future performance, and actual events and results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements made by us due to, but not limited to, important risk factors such as level of assets under our management, volume of sales and redemptions of our investment products, performance of our investment funds and of our investment managers and advisors, client-driven asset allocation decisions, pipeline, competitive fee levels for investment management products and administration, and competitive dealer compensation levels and cost efficiency in our investment management operations, as well as general economic, political and market factors in North America and internationally, interest and foreign exchange rates, global equity and capital markets, business competition, taxation, changes in government regulations, unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings, technological changes, cybersecurity, the possible effects of war or terrorist activities, outbreaks of disease or illness that affect local, national or international economies, natural disasters and disruptions to public infrastructure, such as transportation, communications, power or water supply or other catastrophic events, and our ability to complete strategic transactions and integrate acquisitions, and attract and retain key personnel. We caution that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. The reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors carefully and not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Other than specifically required by applicable laws, we are under no obligation (and expressly disclaim any such obligation) to update or alter the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For a more complete discussion of the risk factors that may impact actual results, please refer to the ‘Risk Factors and Management of Risk’ section of the 2023 Annual MD&A.