Investment manager M&G Investments (LON:MNG) has maintained it’s dividend after the business displayed resilience throughout the COVID-19-induced market volatility.
Despite M&G Investments experiencing an 8% drop in Assets under Management, the manager said it Wass going to proceed with a £410m dividend payment, including both the ordinary dividend and special dividend related to the demerger from Prudential.
The move will please investors who have seen a large number of financial services shares cut or completely scrap their dividend in response to COVID-19.
M&G Investments shares rose over 9% on Wednesday following the news.
In addition to maintaining the dividend, the financial strength of M&G meant they felt confident enough to push forward with the acquisition of a platform digital from Royal London.
The wealth platform has 1,500 advisors and 90,000 individual clients and will increase M&G’s exposure to the advisor market to the tune of £14 billion in assets under management.
The company said it was also targeting £145m in cost savings before the end of 2022.
“I’ve been through a number of financial crises, but none has been like this terrible pandemic. It is testing all of us, in many different ways,” said John Foley, Chief Executive.
“Fortunately, M&G is a resilient business and I am proud of how my colleagues have risen to the challenge of continuing to serve, from their homes, the millions of customers we have around the world.”
“Our financial strength means we can also do the right thing by our shareholders, and make good on our announced intention to pay dividends totalling £410m. Many of our shareholders are income funds or individual savers who rely on these payments for part of their retirement income.”
“While markets have recovered from their March lows, I expect volatility to continue, but as an asset owner of scale we are well positioned to acquire assets at competitive prices. In the meantime, we will continue to manage the business in a prudent way, with our usual disciplined approach to capital management.”
