AUM fell £3.17bn or 14% over Q1 of FY23, from £22.12bn on 31 Mar 22 to £18.95bn on 30 Jun 22. This fall was actually a little less than we had expected, given the very sharp falls in equity markets over the quarter: the MSCI ACWI fell 15.5%, and the Dow Jones Global Technology Index fell 23.4% (technology strategies made up 42% of Polar’s AUM on 31 Mar 22).
Outflows from Polar’s technology funds slowed from £630m in Q422 to £380m. We would highlight this slowdown in outflows as a significant development, as in previous quarters investors were aggressively withdrawing funds in parallel with the large declines in technology stock values.
However, being so early in the financial year, we have left our full year FY23 forecasts unchanged, which we believe is a conservative stance as we do now see a higher probability that our forecasts may be exceeded (because of the slightly stronger than expected June AUM performance). We will re-visit these when Polar releases its Q2 AUM update in October.
Therefore, our fundamental valuation remains 800p per share
