Chief executive Rob Adams said Perpetual would not change its 53-year-old investment approach and there would need to be change in the valuation of Australian companies for the wealth manager to claw back solid returns.
"At the moment,we’re seeing record level highs in equity markets and record level valuations in companies around the world,"Mr Adams said."That’s not an environment in which we outperform."
With the backdrop of the market rally,the company's funds management arm Perpetual Investments saw profit before tax tumble 20 per cent to $37.2 million as investors pulled $1.5 billion out of its funds under management and it earned less in performance fees. Earnings at the financial advice business,Perpetual Private,slumped 23 per cent to $17.4 million.
The losses were slightly buffered by gains in Perpetual's corporate trust,which grew profits by 23 per cent thanks to"solid growth"in commercial property and managed investment funds as well as higher asset prices.
Mr Adams said the entire financial industry was facing challenging conditions,with geopolitical instability and mounting regulatory pressure creating uncertainty within the sector.
"During the first half of the year,regulatory,macro and geopolitical influences continued to disrupt the financial services industry,impacting the asset management and advice sectors,"he said.