The chief financial officer of Impax Asset Management (IPX) has sold almost £100,000-worth of shares in the ESG specialist fund manager, a day after the group announced a first-quarter (Q1) update on assets under management (AuM).
Charlie Ridge, who has been in the post since 2008, cashed in 28,333 shares on 9 January at an aggregated price of 350p, in his second disposal in as many months. On 17 December, Mr Ridge joined a sale by chief executive Ian Simm when he disposed of £216,671-worth of restricted shares, at an average price of 325p. The finance chief also sold a further 5,000 shares gifted to him by his wife, Carol.
The most recent sale came one day after another strong quarterly update from the group, whose sustainability-focused mandates saw net inflows of £771m and positive market movements of £289m in the three months to December.
That performance – which contrasts with recent outflows for Aim-listed peers including Polar Capital (POLR) and Premier Miton (PMI) – caused total assets under management (AuM) to rise 7 per cent to £16.1bn by the end of December. In turn, that equates to an annual growth rate of 40 per cent since the start of 2018.
This week, analysts at Peel Hunt lifted its target price to 380p, but moderated its recommendation on the stock from ‘buy’ to ‘add’, after it climbed to an enterprise value-to-operating profits ratio of 23. However, the broker noted that an AuM target of £17.5bn for the September year-end looks “comfortably achievable” should the current rate of investment flows continue.
On current evidence, the wind is certainly blowing forcefully in that direction. On Monday, BlackRock pledged to double the number of its sustainability-focused exchange traded funds, expand its active investments in the transition to a low carbon economy, and develop screening tools for passive investors to exclude fossil companies from their portfolios.
