City fund duo Liontrust and Premier show worth of human stock pickers

The death of the active stockpicker has been greatly exaggerated if the performance of two City fund groups is anything to go by.

Liontrust and Premier Asset Management, which aim to beat the stock market, on Wednesday shrugged off the threat of automated tracker funds by reporting thumping inflows for the final quarter of last year.

Inflows at £11 billion fund manager Liontrust rose threefold to £571 million, boosted by sales of sustainable investment funds and the takeover of Alliance Trust’s funds business.

Quarterly inflows for Premier Asset Management rose by nearly three quarters to £236 million.

The total assets are now past £6 billion.

Liontrust chief executive John Ions said: “There’s a place for both active and passive.

“But when people are looking to outperform the market there’s a focus on the smaller fund management group because there’s more flexibility to add value.”

Meanwhile, top wealth manager Tilney has cut the number of external funds selected to run a £9 billion investment pot.

The group cut the number of funds selected from 70 to 30 funds, removing performance laggards from the list.