An improved market environment caused client activity to increase substantially during the second quarter, which was reflected as growing sales of fund products and discretionary asset management services.
The risks associated with the general trend in the equity and fixed income markets are high due to the prevailing uncertainty on the markets. A possible continued decline in equity prices or a reduction in investors’ risk appetite would have a negative impact on the company’s profit performance. Evli Group’s assets under management have grown substantially in recent years, which softens the result-impact of any reversal of the market. Sales of alternative investment products, in particular, have brought new, stable revenue. Evli has initiated a series of internal, strategy-based actions and cost savings, leading to improvements in the company’s cost effectiveness.
There has been positive development in the demand for advisory services, and its outlook for 2019 is stable. Own balance sheet investments share of Evli’s business decreased during 2018. Nevertheless, it may have a significant impact on the company’s result performance. In the advisory business and in own investment activities, fluctuations in quarterly and annual returns are possible. Customer's demand for Evli's products and services has continued to be good, which has also led to a systematic increase in lending.
Because of profitable and stable development, we estimate that the result for the 2019 financial year, will be clearly positive.