AJ Bell’s assets under administration fell by 11.7% in “one of the most dramatic” quarters chief executive Andy Bell has witnessed as market volatility from Covid-19 cancelled out net inflows of £1.3bn ($1.6bn, €1.49bn).
The D2C platform provider reported assets under administration (AUA) of £48.3bn at the end of March, down from £54.7bn at the end of December, as market movements of -£7.7bn dented the total assets.
But despite outflows of £300m in its non-platform activities, the platform business saw £1.6bn inflows, with £700m entering the D2C platform and £900m flowing into the advised platform.
Platform sees record quarter for new customers
In addition, total platform customers increased by 9% to 20,872 over the quarter – a record for the firm – taking the total number of platform users to 248,074.
Advised customers increased 4% over the quarter while D2C customers jumped 13%.
Overall customer numbers increased from 241,152 at the end of December 2019 to 262,179 at the end of March.
Shares in the business were trading 5.4% higher mid-morning at 3.15p.
Bell lauded strong new business figures and platform growth in an “unprecedented situation”.
He said: “This quarter was without doubt one of the most dramatic we’ve witnessed. We had to move quickly to keep our people safe from covid-19 and comply with the government lockdown.
“I’m pleased that we were able to do that effectively whilst remaining open for business as usual during a very busy tax year end period.”
AJ Bell’s charitable response to Covid-19 crisis
Bell confirmed the firm had not had to furlough any staff or claim benefits from any of the government’s financial support schemes which he said should be preserved for those companies most in need.
It has also launched the AJ Bell Wage War on Covid Fund as part of the AJ Bell Trust, a UK registered charity, which has made a £50,000 donation to charities and causes supporting the Covid-19 efforts.
Bell is also donating his April, May and June wages to the fund and other board directors, senior management and staff have made similar pledges.
Earlier this week, Bell was among a number of investment industry bosses, including Peter Hargreaves the founder of rival platform Hargreaves Lansdown, who have written an open letter to UK-listed companies urging them to treat retail investors fairly in equity raises.
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