Quilter Investors’ inflows shrunk to £200m ($260.8m, €230.7m) during the first quarter of 2019, with similar results for the wider Quilter group due to “challenging markets”.
In a trading update on Wednesday morning, Quilter Investors reported net flows of £200m for the three months to 31 March 2019, down from £1bn during the same period last year.
Quilter Cheviot suffered net flows fell to £100m from £300m during Q1 2018.
However, assets under management and administration (AUMA) for Quilter Investors grew 7.8% over the quarter to £19.2bn from £17.8bn. During the same period last year, this was only 1.8%.
Meanwhile, Quilter Cheviot’s AUMA grew £1.3bn from £22.4bn on 31 December 2018 to £23.7bn at the end of March 2019.
This was a 5.8% growth, which was up from the same period last year when AUMA fell by 3.5%.
Challenging markets
Commenting on the group results, Paul Feeney, chief executive of Quilter, said: “As indicated at our full year results, net client cash flows have continued to be affected by the challenging markets.
“However, we continue to be encouraged by the resilience of integrated flows which have remained robust during this period, and the high level of customer asset retention across our businesses which was broadly stable on 2018 at 89%.
“While near-term headwinds remain, this demonstrates that our clients and their advisers value Quilter’s integrated advice-led model, and continues to be supportive of our operating margin and revenue outlook.”
Quilter reported net client cash outflows of £200m, compared to inflows of £1.6bn in Q1 2018. The group reported AUMA growth of 5.1% at £114.9bn, up from £109bn, which was attributed to strong market performance.
Acquisition plans
Feeney said the cash offer for Lighthouse Group made by the group earlier this month supports Quilter’s “continued strategic progress”.
“The scheme document was posted to their shareholders earlier this week and we look forward to their advisers joining the Quilter family, and helping to secure our position as the best place to go for trusted financial advice in the UK.”
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