Ruffer’s profit soars 40% on £2bn asset rise

Ruffer Management Limited has seen a 39% rise in profit after tax.

In a busy year for the firm, which has seen founder Jonathan Ruffer (pictured) announce he will take a back seat and hand over his chief executive responsibilities to Henry Maxey, the investment company also enjoyed a 20% rise in its fee-earning funds under management from £11.3 billion to £13.6 billion.

According to Ruffer Management’s latest filing with Companies House, the 12 months running to 31 March saw profit share from Ruffer LLP, of which Ruffer Management Limited is the managing member, more than double.

‘During the year the group saw an increase of 20% in its fee-earning funds under management from £11.3 billion to £13.6 billion. This directly impacts the financial performance of the group by increasing both turnover and pre-tax profit,’ the filing stated, which included a report that gave the company’s directors an opportunity to look back at a year that has proved challenging for many of the firm’s peers.

According to Ruffer’s latest filing, profit before tax for the year to the end of March was £7.24 million, up from last year’s £5.2 million.

The profit share from Ruffer LLP, which reports separately from Ruffer Management Limited, rose from £11.8 million in 2011 to £23.7 million in 2012. 

These figures were detailed in the report to Ruffer Management Limited’s directors, who include founder Ruffer, hedge fund star Crispin Odey, and Viscount Tamworth, who along with Ruffer and Jane Tufnell co-founded the company in 1994.

Aside from its monthly updates to investors in its CF Ruffer Total Return fund and Ruffer Investment Company, the popular £278 million closed-end vehicle, Ruffer Management Limited normally keeps a low profile so its annual report and financial statements provide a rare insight into the workings of the respected group.