The Perpetual Limited (ASX: PPT) share price is trending lower today after the company released a second quarter business update.
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Why is the Perpetual share price falling?
The Perpetual share price is on the slide this morning after the Aussie fund manager provided an update for the quarter ended 31 December 2020 (Q2 2020). Perpetual's total assets under management (AUM) came in at $89.2 billion. That came after the completion of its Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss (Barrow Hanley) acquisition on 18 November 2020.
Perpetual acquired a 75% stake in United States investment manager Barrow Hanley, tripling its assets under management. The acquisition also expanded Perpetual's reach in the US as it builds out its global investment capabilities.
The Perpetual share price is down 3.6% at the time of writing following this morning's update. CEO and managing director Rob Adams said Perpetual is seeing "positive momentum" in FY21 across all divisions.
Perpetual Asset Management Australia's total AUM fell 2% to $22.7 billion due to outflows from its enhanced cash mandate. Positive market returns as well as improved Aussie equities performance helped to offset these outflows. Excluding US-based ESG investment manager Trillium, the segment's total average AUM for the quarter was $23.5 billion compared to $23.3 billion for the September quarter.
Perpetual Asset Management International's total AUM, including Trillium and Barrow Hanley, came in at $66.5 billion.
Mr Adams said Perpetual's new adviser growth strategy helped drive positive net flows into Perpetual Private during the quarter. Perpetual Private funds under advice (FUA) climbed 6% to $15.5 billion with positive net inflows of $0.2 billion.
Perpetual Corporate Trust's FUA climbed 1% higher to $936.2 billion for the quarter with strong growth across a number of segments including Managed Fund Services (MFS) and Debt Market Services (DMS).
Foolish takeaway
The Perpetual share price is down nearly 4% in early trade following the company's latest trading update. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has edged 0.1% lower to 6,818.50 points in a soft start to the day.
