Highlights

• Financial services company Fiducian has released its H1 FY23 results and financial report
• The company has declared an interim fully franked dividend of 12.30 cents per share for the period
• FID has reported an uptick in terms of Funds Under Management, Administration and Advice (FUMAA) and financial advisers
• The company also rolled out Auxilium, an in-house platform for separately managed accounts targeting independent financial advisers

Fiducian Group Limited (ASX: FID) -- a financial services company with varied divisions including investment funds management, and superannuation and financial planning -- has announced results for the half-year ended 31 December 2022.

The company has declared an interim fully franked dividend of 12.30 cents per share for H1 FY23. The closing balance of Fiducian’s Funds Under Management, Administration and Advice (FUMAA) at the end of the reported period was AU$11.85 billion.

The period saw the company expanding its financial planning presence throughout Australia, boosting financial planner base, launch of new product, among other significant developments.

Financials

FID has mentioned that despite the financial market induced downfall over the reported period, the Funds Under Management component grew nearly 8% to AU$4.1 billion, while Funds Under Administration registered a 7.1% increase to AU$3.0 billion when compared with the six-month ago period. The Funds Under Advice component marked an increase of 9.1% to AU$4.8 billion in H1 FY23 from H2 FY22.

As mentioned above, FUMAA as on December 2022 stood at nearly AU$11.85 billion, up 3% year-on-year.

Source: FID’s FY 2023 Half Year Results Investor Presentation

Fiducian Group reported its statutory net profit attributable to members (six months ended 31 December 2022) as over AU$5.5 million. For H1 dividend of 12.30 cents, the record date is 27 February 2023, while the dividend payable date is 13 March 2023.

Fiducian, which operates 45 offices across the country, has cited its net inflows for the six months ended 31 December 2022 as AU$166 million.

Growth during reported period

FID points out that as compared to the first half of FY22, the company increased its financial planners from 66 to 84. Induction process for five franchisees is underway, the report says. Four new offices were opened, expanding FID’s reach in South Australia and the Northern Territory.

The company also increased its staff by 41 members, which resulted primarily because of acquisitions. During the reported period, 23 new staff members were inducted. The company also upgraded its IT systems with a view to capitalising on intellectual capital.

A big development was the launch of a new platform Auxilium. This new offering would enable Fiducian to provide Separately Managed Accounts to the Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) marketplace.

Funds management

Fiducian has also emphasised the ranking of its fund management activities in the report. This includes the Morningstar Investment Performance Survey ranking FID’s Growth and Balanced Funds 11^th and 31^st, respectively, out of 160 funds. The rankings were for a five-year period and measure the performance of funds to December 2022.

FID’s Capital Stable Fund’s ranking was 19^th (out of 95 funds), while its Ultra Growth Fund ranked 72^nd (out of 120 funds). The rankings of all the funds mentioned above were even better (all in top 10) over ten years to December 2022.

Other developments

Fiducian’s latest report also highlights the group’s community support to organisations like Vision Beyond AUS (VBA). VBA, it is stated, has helped in restoration of eyesight of people living as far as Ethiopia and India through free eye surgery clinics.

Employee diversity is another feature of the company, with FID having employees from over 26 countries of origin, aside from females in senior roles.

Also, Fiducian mentioned that the company outperformed the All Ords (including dividend) by over 800% since June 2012. Fiducian Group’s compounded return during the period was over 1,000%, while that of S&P/ASX All Ords Accumulation Index was 188%.

Source: FID’s FY 2023 Half Year Results Investor Presentation

In its investor presentation, released simultaneously with H1 FY23 report, the company has highlighted the launch of Deep Green SMA to target the ESG market, besides briefly mentioning its in-house systems -- Fastrack, FORCe, and Fiducian Online -- and the acquisition of Financial Planning Business of People’s Choice Credit Union (PCCU). 

FID’s shares on ASX were trading at AU$6.65 midday on 14 February 2023.