St James’s Place has reported that total assets have surpassed £100bn ($130.1bn, €113.2bn), with gross inflows up 12% or £11.75bn for the nine months to the end of September. This compares with £10.46bn for the same period in 2017.
The firm noted that fund retention was 96%.
The net inflow was £7.68bn for the period, up 15% from £6.66bn the previous year.
The group’s funds under management (FUM) are now £100.6 billion, a rise of 11% since the beginning of the year and 17% over 12 months.
"We have delivered this continued growth despite both tough comparatives and a more challenging environment for the industry"
Asia developments
SJP did not provide a geographical breakdown of its Q3 results but stated that not included within group FUM is a further £438m of third-party funds within its Asia business.
This compares with £500m of third-party funds during the same nine-month period the previous year, indicating a slowdown in that part of the business.
Rowan Dartington, SJP’s discretionary fund manager, currently operates in the UK and Hong Kong and the company has confirmed its intent to branch out to Singapore and Shanghai in future.
International Adviser reported on Monday that SJP has appointed Bryan Parkinson as managing director of Rowan Dartington’s intermediary and international businesses.
Continued growth
St James’s Place chief executive Andrew Croft said: “Building on the exceptional growth we achieved over the last two years, I am pleased to report continued growth in the third quarter. Gross flows, at £3.83bn, were 7% higher than the prior year comparator, which itself was up 28%. This takes the year to date gross flows to £11.75bn, a growth of 12%.
“With continued strong retention, net flows for the nine months were up 15% to £7.68bn, taking funds under management to a record £100.6bn, up 11% since the start of the year and 17% over the 12 months.
“We have delivered this continued growth despite both tough comparatives and a more challenging environment for the industry, once again demonstrating our resilience in these market conditions.
“There remains growing demand for high-quality financial advice, notwithstanding the current macro and geo-political uncertainty. With the strength and professionalism of the partnership, together with the breadth of our client proposition, we have a major and sustainable competitive advantage.
“Consequently, we remain confident in our ability to grow our business in line with our stated objectives over the medium term.”
Funds under management
The closing funds under management categorised as investment hit £29.45bn, with net inflows of £0.65bn in the first nine months.
Pensions reached £42.35bn, with net inflows of £4.89bn; while unit trusts, ISAs and discretionary fund management (DFM) recorded £28.79bn, with inflows of £2.14bn.
These categories saw an implied surrender rate of 3.4%, 2.8% and 6.1%, respectively, bringing a total of 3.9%.
The unit trust, ISA and DFM category includes closing funds under management of £2.42bn, gross inflows of £0.41bn and outflows £0.08bn for Rowan Dartington.
As stated above, the figures do not include a further £438m of funds under management in third-party funds in Asia.
