Net operating income for the year was £90.9 million up £11.8 million on 2020, including a £3.6 million gain from the sale of Brown Shipley’s pension administration activities in January 2021, the UK wealth manager said in a statement yesterday.

Fee and commission income rose to £63.2 million, a 3.4 per cent increase compared with £61.1 million the previous year, as Brown Shipley recorded strong absolute investment performance across its five core strategies, the firm said.

Net interest income was down £1.3 million at £9.3 million in 2021, as the UK Base rate remained at 0.1 per cent through most of the year resulting in continued spread compression, the firm added.

Despite this pressure on margins, Brown Shipley saw strong growth in its Loan Book which reached £566 million by the end of 2021, up 15 per cent from £494 million in 2020.

Over the same 12-month period, income growth outpaced a rise in expenses, the latter rising from £76.5 million in 2020 to £85.5 million in 2021, mainly due to the inclusion of £7.2 million of expenses for staff who have been seconded into Quintet roles. The recharge of those costs to the parent company similarly inflated revenue.

As of 31 December 2021, total funds under management stood at £9.6 billion, a 9 per cent increase from £8.8 billion at the end of 2020. Brown Shipley’s Basel III common equity tier 1 ratio stood at 19.6 per cent at the end of 2021, up from 17.8 per cent in 2020 and well above the regulatory threshold, the wealth manager explained.