First-half profits rise by fifth at Schroders

FTSE 100 fund manager Schroders has seen its assets reach a record £418.2bn, despite its inflows during the first half slipping on last year following the loss of a £5.8bn mandate from a large American client.

A tighter grip on costs, a fall in sterling and a steady flow of new money all drove assets up 21.6pc on last year and bumped up profits, said Peter Harrison, who last year replaced Michael Dobson as chief executive.

However, it drew a smaller amount of new money into its funds compared to this time a year ago, posting net inflows of £800m versus £1bn last year after a client took a multi-billion pound mandate in-house.

Despite the dip in inflows, Schroders reported a 21pc boost in pre-tax profits for the period to £342.8m.