LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - The Sunday Times' Emma Dunkley stated wealth managers have had a "tough time of late", with the screw being turned on fees, tightened by the rise of tracker funds.
In her Inside the City column, Dunkley pointed out that last week, US giant Vanguard, a "prolific provider of low-cost funds", received the green light to provide financial advice in the UK - yet another blow to British asset managers.

However, Dunkley said it was not all doom and gloom for the sector.

"Although investors kept some of their powder dry last year, because of political uncertainty, Brewin Dolphin still saw net inflows of £1.4bn into its discretionary funds run by managers," she said.

Analysts at Liberum also highlighted that Brewin Dolphin's inflows were "well ahead of peers".

"The FTSE 250 upmarket wealth manager, with a market value of £1.1bn, is on the front foot when the industry is consolidating to boost scale," she said while issuing the group with a 'buy' rating.

Over at This is Money, Joanne Hart said Renew Holdings had "come a long way" since recommending the stock at 75p in 2012.

Once known as a construction firm, Hart said Renew had steadily increased its focus on essential renewal and maintenance work in areas such as railways, waterworks, mobile antennae and nuclear decommissioning.

Today, Hart pointed out in her Midas Share tips column that these businesses now generated 95% of group income - sales and profits also soared and shares surged to £5.00 each.

Looking ahead, Hart believes Renew should continue to deliver growth.

"The Government has pledged to spend billions of pounds on infrastructure, a good proportion of which will be invested in upgrade and modernisation projects. Renew is ideally placed to benefit from these plans," she said.

"Renew shares have risen sharply in the past two months. Investors applauded last year's results and Scott is optimistic about the future. Shareholders have earned a good return from this stock, but there is more to come. Keep holding."

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