Profits fall at Fleming Family & Partners ahead of Stonehage merger
Fleming Family & Partners (FF&P), the multi family office founded by relatives of James Bond creator Ian Fleming, has posted falling profits following the sale of its Russian real estate business, according to accounts filed with Companies House.
The accounts reveal that FF&P earned £2.7 million for the year ending March 2014, compared to a £4.4 million the year before, having secured a one-off performance fee for the sale of their Russia Real Estate Limited Business.
FF&P also saw revenues drop from £49.4 million to £31 million, while assets under management increased marginally to £4.1 billion. The account filings are the last FF&P will post before a forthcoming merger with competitor Stonehage.
“Adjusting for [the] one-off performance fee, this year saw a growth in underlying profitability which should augur well for the future,” said FF&P chairman Adam Fleming, who added that a period of consolidation in the industry meant that the pressures of costs and regulations would remain ever present.
FF&P was established in 2000 by the Fleming family after the sale of Robert Fleming & Co to Chase Manhattan bank. The multi family office currently works with more than 50 families.
According to the accounts, FF&P's advisory business incurred a small loss compared to a profit in 2013, while they predicted that underlying profitability on the whole, particularly in their asset management business, would improve modestly in 2015.
Once FF&P merges with Stonehage, the newly-formed business, Stonehage and Fleming Family & Partners (SF&P), will serve a client base of over 250 families and manage over $43 billion of assets. SF&P will reportedly have combined revenues of approximately $160 million and employ more than 500 staff across 7 countries.
The merger will see the Fleming Family Trust Company's ownership stake reduced to less than a quarter of the new entity.