Investors in banking behemoth Macquarie have earned a lower return on their funds this year than in the previous five years, as quieter financial conditions presented fewer opportunities and weighed on customer demand for the group’s services.

In an address at the company’s annual general meeting in Sydney on Thursday, filed with the ASX ahead of delivery, Macquarie chair and former Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens will tell investors the company earned a return on shareholders’ funds of 10.8 per cent: “a bit below the level Macquarie typically seeks to achieve.”

Over the past five years, Macquarie has earned around 15 per cent for shareholders on average.

The company paid a final dividend of $3.85 a share, down from $4.50 a share last year, taking its total dividends to $6.40 a share for the year, in line with its policy of paying out shareholders between 50 and 70 per cent of profits.

Stevens said the company’s $3.5 billion profit in the 2024 financial year – down 32 per cent on the previous year – was lower than the “exceptional” results of the past two years, where volatility in global energy markets increased customers demand for services and trading opportunities.

“[This] gave way to much quieter conditions, and hence lower earnings for [Macquarie’s] commodities and global markets business,” he said, adding less active financial markets had also limited other areas of the group’s business, such as its flagship asset management arm.

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“However, as long-term investments in growth paid off, banking and financial services and Macquarie Capital both generated higher profits than last year,” he said.

Ahead of Macquarie’s annual general meeting in Sydney on Thursday, the company’s chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake said Macquarie Asset Management, the group’s funds management arm, held $915 billion in assets under management as of the end of June – down 2 per cent from March.