Polar Capital Share Target Raised as AuM Surges

Cavendish raised its price target on Polar Capital Holdings (LON: POLR) to 1,216p and reiterated its Buy rating on the stock in a note on Tuesday following the asset manager’s recently released fiscal year 2026 results, with assets under management surging since the year-end to £44.7 billion as at 19 June.

Analysts Jens Ehrenberg and Rahim Karim said the post-period AuM growth was “particularly impressive,” driven by £2.3 billion of net inflows and strong investment returns.

The jump prompted Cavendish to upgrade its average AuM expectations by approximately 33-39% over the forecast period, with core profit upgrades of 53-73%.

WELCOME BONUS - Free Share Bundle When You Invest £50! Get up to £500 cashback for investing with IG.

Invest in 15,000+ shares and ETFs. Open an account now, invest at least £50, and you’ll get a free share bundle worth between £40 and £200. T&Cs apply.

5.0

Open Account Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

On the fiscal year 2026 results themselves, Cavendish noted core profit rose 11% year-on-year to £62.8 million, approximately 6% ahead of consensus, while net management fee revenues increased 10% to £196.9 million, 4% above consensus.

Performance fee profit came in at £16 million, more than double the prior year figure, while the full-year dividend of 46p per share was in line with expectations.

Cavendish said that “the strength of Polar Capital’s update has not been seen among the traditional asset management peer group in a long time.”

“While we appreciate that a significant amount of this is driven by the Group’s favourable exposure within its technology strategy, it would be remiss to ignore the strength of the Group’s broader strategy offering as well as its institutional distribution capabilities that the team has built over the past decade,” the analysts added.

The new 1,216p target price reflects Cavendish’s materially upgraded forecasts, with the firm also introducing maiden fiscal year 2029 estimates and revising its dividend per share forecasts to approximately 50% of core fully diluted earnings per share going forward.