Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Allfunds first quarter 2023 trading update conference call. Joining us in today's conference call are Allfunds CEO, Juan Alcaraz, the CFO, Alvaro Perera, and the Global Head of Investor Relations, Silvia Rios. Mr. Alcaraz will make a brief introduction, and there will be a question and answer session that will follow. This conference call is being recorded, and an audio replay will be available at allfunds.com during the day. At this time, I would like to hand the call over to Mr. Juan Alcaraz. Sir, you may begin.
Thank you very much. Good morning to everyone, thank you for joining us today in this Q1 2023 trading update. I'm very happy to take you through the highlights for this quarter. Assets under administration for Allfunds Group increased by 3%, or EUR 40 billion, as a result of the positive evolution of both portfolios of assets, Platform Service, which increased by 3.2% since December, and Dealing & Execution assets that grew by 2.6% since last quarter. For the first time since December 2021, our assets have grown, which makes this Q1 of 2023 the strongest quarter in a year.
The increase in platform service assets, which reached EUR 937 billion, came as a result of the positive evolution of global markets in this quarter, in both equities and also fixed income, but also due to positive net flows. We saw a market performance contribution of EUR 24 billion, despite the volatility seen during the last part of the quarter. Net flows amounted to EUR 5.2 billion as a result of continued strong new client migrations onboarded into the platform, which compensated outflows due to market volatility in the last two weeks of the quarter. Let me remind you that this is the second consecutive quarter of positive flows. When moving into more detail, we have experienced organic outflows from existing clients by EUR 2.5 billion as a result of some identified situations in a limited number of clients.
This represents the lowest level of outflows in the last year. In terms of migrations, you will see that, as suspected, we have managed to onboard almost EUR one billion of assets, all in the platform service. As regards to the portfolio of assets in Dealing & Execution, there has also been an increase of EUR 10 billion in this start of the year. Mostly driven by positive market performance. Year-over-year, assets under administration have decreased by almost 5%, and this compares with a decrease of 6.3% for the European mutual fund industry, according to Morningstar. We continue to consistently outgrow the market. As you might have seen in the statement today, we continue to attract new clients to our WealthTech platform. We are very excited with the progress of our strategy around the subscription-based business.
Thanks to the recent acquisitions that we made last year, we have won top new clients. The most clear example has been the partnership between Credit Suisse with Allfunds Tech Solutions that we announced a month ago. A landmark deal which proves our capacity to attract pan-European leading institutions and becoming a strong partner for this investments. It has not been an isolated case, and year-on-year, we have managed to add 29 more clients in Allfunds Tech Solutions. At Allfunds Data Analytics, there has been also an uptick in client wins with a 36% increase year-on-year, and our professional monthly users have reached 9,680 professional users in our Connect platform.
As closing remarks, I would also like to reiterate today again that we remain highly confident in our business model and the growth levers at our disposal. Prospects for this year remain positive. We have continued to see strong new client activity, demonstrating our ability to continue to win market share and deliver excellent client outcomes. Overall, our secular growth drivers, outsourcing, the shift to open architecture, and digitalization, they all remain intact. Thank you very much and, let's now open for Q&A. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Alcaraz. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star five on your telephone keypad. If you change your mind, please press star five again. Please ensure that your device is unmuted locally before proceeding with your question. Our first question comes from Philip Middleton from Bank of America. Your line is open.
Thank you for this and thanks for, you know, a good outcome in a difficult environment. I wonder, though, could you say a little bit more about the Credit Suisse assets? In particular, what revenues, roughly, are you earning from those? Also, what do you think the medium-term trajectory of those assets will be, given presumably they won't be booking new clients into Credit Suisse post the merger? I just wondered if you could give the market a bit more clarity on that issue, please.
Hi, Philip. Good morning, thank you for your.
Hi.
kind words. Philip, unfortunately, as I'm sure you imagine, we cannot disclose the revenue we make with our clients, whether it's CS or any of the other clients. If helpful, I would remind you what we disclosed at the time of the IPO in the prospectus. We disclosed around EUR 125 billion assets and at a margin that was below the average. Those assets, as you well might have imagined, have shrunk since then. With regards to the future of CS, we also don't have a position at the company.
We, as you can see on our Q1 results, we remain very solid in terms of flows from all our clients. We don't want to single anyone out, of course.
Okay. Thank you very much.
The next question comes from Ian White from Autonomous Research. Now, your line is open.
Thanks very much. Thanks for doing the call. I had a few questions, please. First of all, appreciate you obviously only issued your FY 23 guidance recently. Has anything really changed over the course of the first quarter that would lead you to be more or less optimistic regarding the FY 23 outlook? Particularly thinking about the profitability and margin expectations given things like the asset mix would have changed during the first quarter. That's question one. Secondly, just around the net treasury income assumptions. I think I'm right in saying that your guidance for 2023 included maybe some conservatism around pass-through of interest income to depositors.
Just wondered how that had played out in the first quarter, whether you were now sharing any rate benefit or whether you had retained that benefit in full so far. Finally, just wondered if I could ask for maybe a bit of detail around developments in your sub-advisory business. That's obviously, you know, an area you've discussed for a number of years as a growth opportunity. I just wondered if you could give an update on progress there, please. Thank you.
Hi, Ian. Let me take the first two questions.
Mm-hmm.
I'm gonna bundle the answer. Probably Juan if wanna cover the last one. In a nutshell, we haven't seen anything that would make us update our outlook for the year. In terms of margin, we have seen. We have not seen any changes in the underlying book. We have not seen the shift to more conservative, but also not to more aggressive share classes yet. Stable, stable margin on that front. It is true that we've seen a weak quarter in terms of transaction revenue. On the other hand, we have offset that weaker transaction income revenue with a more positive than expected net treasury income.
Yeah, as said, we remain confident that based on what we know today and the expectations that we included into our guidance for the year, that we will remain on those, yeah, on that postcode. Juan.
Yeah. Thank you, Alvaro. Yes. Regarding sub-advisory, well, as you know, we launched now our MANCO in Luxembourg last year. I think the good news is that this MANCO now is ready to bring many different type of solutions, you know, to our clients, not just the mandates through sub-advisory, if there is appetite, you know, for our clients to buy or enter into open architecture through mandates instead of buying IICs, digamos. Also the diversification of business lines now provide us the possibility of becoming and building the infrastructure for both fund houses and distributors infrastructure of their product range in Luxembourg.
We can work on all this fund hosting, you know, a business, helping them to create their own SICAV, you know, in Lux, you know. As an example. That's why I think that today we have a much more diversified business that can, well, again, help both, you know, fund houses that want to launch products in Europe or distributors, you know, that want to export, you know, their products from Italy or Spain, you know, or any country to Luxembourg, you know, and make it pan-European or global. Now they can also count on Allfunds, no. That's why I believe that on the long- term, with this, with this mantle, we are definitely reinforcing our value proposition.
Okay. Thanks very much.
Thank you.
The next question comes from Gregory Simpson from BNP Paribas. Your line is open.
Hi. Good morning. Thank you for accepting my questions. First of all would be, can you provide any update on the kind of pipeline you're seeing or in-interest in kind of outsourcing? I think the number was EUR 150 billion in terms of the pipeline in December. You were expecting EUR 40 billion-EUR 60 billion to be migration this year. Is that still kind of on track? Is there anything in terms of the new pipes that are coming in at the moment, is there any kind of particular, you know, geography or trend in there to call out? That would be the first question. I'll hang on first.
Okay. Yes. I mean, no changes at all, no, to the guidance that we gave regarding the pipeline, no. I think that probably the only difference with the previous years is that it's true that there are some big whales, no, in the pipeline, so clients with assets above EUR 15 billion, you know, that well, that we are, as you can imagine, we are doing all our best, you know. Not just to incorporate because, I mean, are clients that have signed already with Allfunds, so it's not a matter of convincing them to sign with us. It's a matter of the timing, of the migration. That's the only, let's say, kind of difference that I'm seeing compared to other years, no.
Two, three big whales that I hope you know that they will enter into 2023, no. Not right here, no, let's say. Apart from that, yes, we are committed now to be well above EUR 40 billion, now between EUR 40 billion and EUR 60 billion, no, as I said, no, the beginning of the year. Absolutely, yes.
Got it. Maybe a follow-up is on, I think you announced the launch of a, Allfunds investment or Allfunds Alternative Solutions, in March.
Yeah.
I think before there was maybe a partnership with iCapital. You know, if possible, just maybe explain a bit, you know, the timeline or, you know, full process around alternatives and, you know, the opportunities that you see.
Yeah. Our partnership with iCapital remains intact. Okay? It's a company that of course we trust them and we are really happy, you know, cooperating with them. We have identified from both sides, okay? From managers and from distributors, the appetite and the need for something else, no? Something more, no? That's why we have decided now to internally to launch this new platform that is almost already live in Spain. Of course, this has to be a global platform. The idea is that we will announce, I hope, in April, if not in May, these strategic agreements with the top fund houses, no, in this type of asset class.
The good news is that the distributors are, let's say, are waiting, you know, for this platform to be ready in order to start investing, no. Yes, we are really excited, you know, with this opportunity. Again, it's like Allfunds 23 years ago, no. We are going to do all our best to try to facilitate, no, distributors, to enter in an efficient way, you know, into this asset class that, as we know is a little bit more complex, especially when we talk about the operational setup, no.
Got it. Maybe just one final question would be on the transactional income. What is the driver in terms of this? On principle, it was kind of, it felt like quite a volatile quarter. You maybe would have expected a bit more kind of fund switching. Yet what were the kind of market conditions that caused transactional income to be stronger and weaker? Why was it a bit softer this quarter? Just in terms of thinking in the medium-t erm.
Yeah, I agree. No, I think you, you nailed it. It has actually to do, to do with the amount of both inflows and outflows. While it is true that Q1 was a volatile quarter in terms of market, when it comes to the actual inflows and outflows, it has been very quiet, right? We have recorded lower than usual transaction levels. It is also true that going forward, we might see some, let's say, potential for recovering those weaker levels if we start seeing those portfolio rebalances taking place, be it in Q2, Q3, or even Q4. Also it's nothing I would say out of the ordinary, nothing to be worried about.
Just simply, it has to be in a weak quarter. Look, as I said earlier, to Philip or to Ian, with Ian, we've been able to offset that weak quarter by reporting better than expected net treasury income. Yeah.
Joseph, thank you very much.
Thank you.
The next question comes from Reg Watson from ING. Now your line is open.
Morning, all. Juan, I would just like to ask your opinion of how you think legislation is going or the proposed legislation on rebates, and whether or not that's going to affect your back book. Please can you confirm if my recollection is correct that none of your front book has any rebate business involved?
Well, I mean, this, as you can imagine, is gonna give you my personal opinion because I don't know more than you know. It looks like until end of May, we are not gonna see the paper, no, that the commission is preparing. Nobody really knows, no, what is gonna happen. There is a lot of noise. It looks, no? We have... It's true that we have also seen the reaction and the pushback of some European countries, no, more recently Italy, you know. Previous to Italy was Germany, you know, for instance, you know.
Let's say that, again, the feedback that I get, but it's unofficial feedback, as you can imagine, is that it looks not like that, in the first draft, what, the word, inducement ban, is not going to be there, no, it's not going to appear. Just again. This is something that we don't know and we are gonna have to wait until end of May, you know. Regarding Allfunds, yes, of course, you know, part of our income, part of our revenues come from rebate. It is pretty concentrated in some geographies, in some countries. Again, we don't know if it is gonna happen. It looks like, no.
If it happens, it's not gonna be in the next 12 or 24 months. You know, it would take years, you know, to be this regulation implemented. With time, I think that, well, Allfunds should be able to put in practice in some mitigation measures in order to reduce any impact, no, on the revenue side. I think that, as I mentioned, no, some months ago, there are also countries, no, and geographies in where a rebate is not exactly... How can we say it? I mean, it's not definitely the, a positive, no, factor for Allfunds to win clients, you know.
Because in countries in where we are small, our prices not necessarily are extraordinarily competitive. I always tell my team, you know, that we need to win clients based on our value proposition and not based on prices, no, that we have so far. When I say prices, I mean better prices, no, with or the best prices with different houses or the rebates, you know, in the end. In the long- term, we are not really concerned. I believe that in where we need to focus is in where I always tell my team, that is in having the very best value proposition for our clients, no, both fund houses and distributors. If rebates remain, well, we will have that extra income.
If, if they don't remain, we will, we will attract and win clients much faster, no, in the long- term. Again, it's not something that really worries me.
Okay. Thank you very much. That's very comprehensive.
Thank you.
The last question comes from Alexander Mattess from Barclays. Now your line is open.
Yeah. Morning, all, thanks very much for taking my question. Most of my answers are just a couple of clarifications, if that's okay. Firstly, on the sort of couple of clients that you've mentioned, will bring very significant levels of assets, you know, double-digit billions of assets this year. Can I confirm, is that included within the EUR 40 billion-EUR 60 billion pipeline? Therefore, should we expect the quarterly profile of migrations to be quite lumpy this year? Is that additive to the EUR 40 billion-EUR 60 billion? Secondly, just on sort of revenue margins, can you confirm what sort of revenue margin ex NII we should be expecting for the first half this year? Thank you.
Yeah. It is included, when we talk about the pipeline. However, you know, we don't really need those big whales, those big assets to reach, let's say the EUR 40 billion, no, which is kind of our floor. I mean, the problem always with migrations is that I understand, you know, that we need to work on natural years, no? Migrations in 2022, no, migrations in 2023. It's not the way I follow migrations really, you know? Because for me, look, if a EUR 20 billion migration doesn't enter into the platform, you know, in November or December, no, of this year, but the inaudible during the platform in January of the following year, I'm fine with that, you know.
I know that, of course, you know the numbers of migration number, no, of that year doesn't have those assets and it could be like a kind of negative, not for the market. What is what it is. The floor should be those EUR 40 billion without these big whales. If they come, it should be more of course, you know. Regarding the revenue margin, probably Alvaro, you wanna jump in with this one?
Sure. Hi, Alex. Look, we're not disclosing every component of the platform margin at this stage. Let me try to help you here. Remember back in Feb, when we did the full year presentation, we mentioned a margin for the year 2023 of around 3.4 to 3.5 basis points, including the net treasury income. Here we were assuming at least EUR 25 million in revenues for the full year 2023. As you might have picked up from my comment earlier, we are already seeing some, let's say positive, signs in this regard. EUR 25 million, hopefully will be an absolute floor, so we're being more positive on this front.
Let's say we're not changing, as I said, our views around the 3.4% to 3.5% margin for the full year.
That's great. Thank you very much.
You're welcome.
Thank you.
There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand back to Mr. Juan Alcaraz, Allfunds CEO. Mr. Alcaraz, your line is open.
Thank you. Well, nothing else. Again, thanks for your time today, for your interest as always in Allfunds. Well, hope to talk to you soon. Okay, thank you very much again. Thank you.