Australian Ethical posts strong first half buoyed by FUM growth

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist, Financial Newswire

27 February 2026

Australian Ethical has delivered “strong” half-year results including a 42 per cent increase in net profit after tax (NPAT) to $13.3 million, with the investment manager announcing it had hit a new funds under management (FUM) high of $14 billion during the period.

In its announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), the investment manager noted that it had still managed to maintain positive investment performance during the six months to 31 December 2025 despite “challenging market conditions” and was also reaping the benefits of its Altius Asset Management acquisition, growing its total FUM by $165 million.

Australian Ethical also said that its successful transition of superannuation administration services to GROW had helped super net flows rise by 19 per cent to $230 million compared to the same period last year, and also recorded a surge in the number of new superannuation members joining particularly during the second quarter.

“I’m incredibly proud of our strong results. We’ve delivered growth across our key financial metrics, transformed the business, and maintained robust fundamentals,” John McMurdo, Australian Ethical chief executive, said.

“We’ve also continued to advocate for higher standards across corporate Australia. Recent engagements include Woolworths, QBE, NAB and Westpac as we’ve continued to use our collective voice to encourage companies to do better.

“As pleasing as these results, is the quality business we’re building, positioning us for even stronger growth. In the past six months, we’ve transitioned our superannuation member base to a single administration platform, laying the groundwork for enhanced member services and ongoing cost savings.

“Likewise, the continued roll out of the Charles River system will ensure we have an enhanced investment platform, laying the foundations for our second growth engine – investment products beyond superannuation.”

With its revenue up 13 per cent to $65.8 million driven by average FUM growth of 18 per cent, the ethical investment manager also confirmed it had “provisioned” $1.5 million during this period for the Australian Ethical Foundation to continue its philanthropic work for not-for-profit (NFP) organisations.

McMurdo said the firm expects net flows to remain positive in the second half of the financial year and revenue margins to remain “in line with the first half”.

“Over the past five years, we have demonstrated our ability to deliver profit growth whilst also investing in our business platform,” he said.

“Looking ahead, we remain focused on executing our strategy to support the next phase of expansion – building the capabilities to further strengthen our superannuation business, and to boost our second growth engine – our investment products beyond superannuation.

“With the scale we have now achieved, we are well positioned to make these investments and continue to deliver growth in profitability.

“Importantly, despite a seasonally higher cost profile in the second half, we remain focused on delivering an improvement of at least 1% in our overall FY26 CTI ratio compared to FY25 CTI of 71.4%, whilst remaining mindful of short-term investment market challenges.

“In the short term, sector rotation out of technology and into materials and resource stocks has impacted our relative investment performance, however notwithstanding short-term market dynamics, we remain confident in our ethical investment approach and the medium-term outlook.

“Our long track record of investment outperformance across market, economic and political cycles, combined with our high-quality capability, strong balance sheet, enhanced business platform, trusted brand and diversified business model, positions us well for the years ahead.”

The Board also announced a fully franked interim dividend of 8 cents per share as part of the half-year results.