Foresight, founded in 1984 and listed in the FTSE 250, manages about £13bn for institutions and retail savers. It invests in energy-transition infrastructure, real assets and UK and Irish small companies. Over three years its assets under management (AUM) barely moved, yet core profit rose from £50m to £69m. In 2026 it sold its public-markets arm, and its flagship infrastructure fund is still only about half raised.
Infrastructure funds for institutions, tax-efficient funds for savers
Foresight earns fees for managing money. Its largest area is infrastructure: £9.9bn of AUM in January 2025, in the UK, Europe and Australia, with a focus on the energy transition. Private equity is smaller, at £1.7bn. It backs small and medium-sized companies through regional funds in Wales and Northern Ireland and through venture capital trusts (VCTs), tax-efficient vehicles for retail investors.
The company wants 85-90% of revenue to be recurring, mainly management fees. It also earns performance fees, which vary. Retail vehicles carry higher margins, so retail fundraising drives profit. The company says it will pay out 60% of adjusted profit after tax as dividends. 9 Jan 2025 27 Jun 2024 1 Feb 2024 2 Dec 2025
Profit grew while assets stood still
In October 2023 AUM was £12.1bn, slightly down on a year earlier because of currency moves and market conditions. Core EBITDA before share-based payments, the company's headline profit measure, still rose 18% to £59.3m in the year to March 2024. Revenue was £141m. Record retail fundraising of £436m drove this.
Management had been targeting AUM growth of 20-25% a year on a rolling three-year average. In June 2024 it changed its guidance to profit instead: double core EBITDA over five years. That is a different yardstick, and AUM growth was not mentioned again as a target. 10 Oct 2023 30 Nov 2023 11 Apr 2024 27 Jun 2024
“the Group is updating its growth guidance to double core EBITDA pre-SBP over the next 5 years” 27 Jun 2024
The big infrastructure fund raises money slowly
In June 2024 FEIP II, the second energy-transition infrastructure fund, held a first close of €300m. The target was €1.25bn, nearly 50% above the previous fund. Commitments reached €485m by April 2025, €505m by October 2025 and €595m by October 2026. In October 2025 management set a date of mid-2027 for reaching the full target.
The shares peaked near 520p in September 2024 and fell to 347p by March 2025. The company has not said why. Over that period it ran a share buyback, raised in steps from £5m to £17m. It bought about four million shares at an average of 346p, completing the programme in April 2025. It then announced a new buyback of up to £50m over three years. 5 Jun 2024 10 Oct 2024 10 Apr 2025 8 Oct 2025 9 Apr 2026 3 Apr 2025 11 Apr 2025
“we are confident that this second vintage will achieve its target fund size of €1.25 billion by mid-2027” 8 Oct 2025
Buying specialists, selling the public-markets arm
In January 2025 Foresight bought WHEB Asset Management. Half the price was paid upfront and half deferred, with a management performance entitlement over three years. It also took a sub-management role on a Liontrust real-assets fund. Together the deals added over £800m of AUM. In December 2025 an earn-out of AU$19.6m fell due on its earlier Infrastructure Capital purchase, paid half in shares and half in cash. The maximum is AU$30m.
In June 2026 it agreed to sell Foresight Capital Management, its public-markets business, to Guinness Global Investors. The unit had £1.0bn of AUM, 7% of the group, down from a peak of £1.6bn in 2022. Sixteen staff transferred. The sale completed in September 2026. 28 Jan 2025 1 Dec 2025 11 Jun 2026 7 Sep 2026
Profits rose, but more slowly and from a flat asset base
Core EBITDA grew 18% in FY24, then about 5% in FY25 to £62.2m and about 10% in FY26 to £68.6m. The margin held near 42%, and recurring revenue stayed at 86-87%. Record retail fundraising, £630m in FY26, carried the growth.
The institutional side has been slower. FEIP II is still well short of €1.25bn two years after its first close. The public-markets business shrank from £1.6bn to £1.0bn before it was sold. The company says institutional fundraising will be the catalyst for higher margins, so that gap matters for profit. 27 Jun 2024 28 Nov 2024 26 Jun 2025 29 Jun 2026 9 Apr 2026 2 Dec 2025 11 Jun 2026
A new chief executive, a retiring director and a shareholder protest
Gary Fraser was named chief executive in June 2025. The company's announcements do not say whom he replaced. John Le Poidevin joined the board in April 2026 and took over as chair of the audit and risk committee when Geoffrey Gavey retired at the July 2026 AGM.
Insider dealing was mixed. In 2025 co-head of private equity James Livingston sold about £0.6m of shares, Matthew Smith sold 105,416 shares and chief investment officer David Hughes gave 300,000 shares to charity. Gavey bought 24,700 shares in December 2025 and Le Poidevin bought 19,875 at 503p in August 2026. FIL Limited disclosed a 5.06% stake in December 2025.
At the 31 July 2026 AGM, shareholders passed every resolution, but there was dissent on Resolution 6. The announcements do not say what it covered. The board promised an update on its engagement with shareholders within six months. A Rule 9 waiver was also approved; a concert party holds 35.4%. 26 Jun 2025 26 Feb 2026 3 Aug 2026 21 Aug 2025 3 Sep 2025 21 Oct 2025 4 Dec 2025 11 Aug 2026 19 Dec 2025 3 Aug 2026 4 Aug 2026
Record revenue, a smaller group and a bigger buyback
For the year to March 2026, revenue rose 11% to £164.9m and core EBITDA to £68.6m. The dividend rose 12% to 27.1p. Year-end AUM was £13.0bn and FUM, the part earning fees on invested money, £9.0bn.
The October 2026 update showed AUM steady at £13.0bn after the public-markets sale. It also reported £224m raised from retail investors in the half. A$660m of commitments went to the Kinetic continuation vehicle, a fund that holds an existing investment for longer, and a further A$75m to the ARIF fund. Private equity realisations were £42m at 4.2 times cost. Of the £50m buyback, £9.6m was used in FY26 and the company cancelled 4,000,000 treasury shares in October. The shares closed that month at 437p. 29 Jun 2026 8 Oct 2026 7 Oct 2026 9 Apr 2026
Doubling profit by FY29 and finishing FEIP II
Management expects core EBITDA to grow year on year in the first half of FY27 and recurring revenue to stay within 85-90%. Interim results are due on 26 November 2026. It still aims to double FY24 core EBITDA by FY29, first stated in June 2024. It plans to use the remaining £40.4m of the buyback over FY27 and FY28.
FEIP II must raise about €655m more to reach €1.25bn by mid-2027. The board owes shareholders an update on the Resolution 6 dissent by early 2027. 8 Oct 2026 29 Jun 2026 8 Oct 2025 9 Apr 2026 3 Aug 2026
“H1 FY27 core EBITDA pre-SBP anticipated to deliver year-on-year growth” 8 Oct 2026
Written by AI from Foresight Group Holdings Limited's own announcements since Oct 2023 · every paragraph links to its sources