The Australian Ethical Investment Limited (ASX: AEF) share price is bucking today's general market weakness. Shares in the fund manager have remained relatively positive after it released an update earlier today.
At the time of writing, Australian Ethical shares are trading 1% higher at $8.10. Let's take a look at what the company announced and how it's been performing.
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Australian Ethical grows funds under management
Earlier today, Australian Ethical provided the market with an update on its funds under management (FUM) for the quarter and full year.
The announcement was highlighted by a 56% increase in net flow of $1.03 billion for the full year ending 30 June 2021. Combined with strong investment performance, Australian Ethical's FUM increased to $6.07 billion.
Australian Ethical reported a 12% increase in quarterly FUM, equating to roughly $0.66 billion.
The company's superannuation holdings accounted for the largest portion of its FUM, representing $5.41 billion.
In a previous update released in late May, Australian Ethical CEO John McMurdo cited the "unprecedented interest and demand for ethical investing" and that the company expects "this growth in ethical investing to accelerate".
Australian Ethical share price snapshot
Australian Ethical is a funds management company that specialises in environmentally and socially responsible investing. Its business is divided into managed funds and superannuation funds.
The company's managed funds segment provides investors with 8 different investment options. In addition, Australian Ethical's superannuation business allows investors to build a retirement plan by investing in ethically sustainable businesses.
The Australian Ethical share price has had a stellar year thus far, surging by more than 60% since the start of 2021.
Shares in the fund manager were trading at all-time highs of almost $10 in late May. Since then, the Australian Ethical share price has sold off, falling by around 18% to its current level.
Part of these falls occurred after Australian Ethical provided updated earnings guidance for FY21.
The company advised investors it expected to deliver an underlying profit after tax before performance fees of between $8.8 million and $9.3 million for FY21.
Earlier this month, Australian Ethical announced that its Emerging Companies Fund outperformed its benchmark, the S&P ASX Industrials Index (ASX: XNJ) over the last 12 months.
