Quilter’s first set of results since the sale of its international business to Utmost Group in November 2020 was mostly upbeat.
Assets under management and administration across the group, excluding Quilter International, stood at £111.8bn ($150.7bn, €133.4bn) at the end of December 2021, an increase of 13% from the previous year.
Net inflows across the year hit £4bn, up from £1.5bn in 2020.
The fourth quarter also showed marked improvement, with net inflows of £1bn compared with £300m in Q4 last year.
IFA appeal
The revamped/rebranded Quilter Investment Platform delivered a strong performance with £3.5bn in net inflows, representing year-on-year growth of 136%.
Chief executive Paul Feeney was “delighted” by how it “has been received by financial advisers and customers”.
“Gross flows from IFAs were up 63% year-on-year reversing the declines we saw from that channel in recent years in the lead up to the platform’s migration to new technology. I expect this momentum to build as we begin to encourage new IFA firms to start using our new platform given the wider range of products we can offer and assets we can now hold.”
In other positive news, Quilter Cheviot reported “significant year-on-year improvement”, Feeney added.
“Net inflows of 2021 of £282m in the fourth quarter of 2021 and £1,059m for the full year were both significantly higher than the comparable period of 2020.”
Which were £17m and £264m, respectively.
Full year Quilter Cheviot net inflows represented 4% of opening assets under management, up from 1% in 2020.
Drag on net inflows
The results were not all rosy, however, with Quilter Investors attracting net inflows of just £9m for the fourth quarter, down from £36m in the same three-month period the previous year.
AuMA at the multi-asset business closed the fourth quarter at £25.6bn, up from £23.2bn in Q4 2020.
“Although rebalancing of our MPS portfolio over the course of the year contributed to a drag in net inflows into Quilter Investors, the launch of our repositioned Wealth Select range later this year will remove this potential headwind,” Feeney said.
He added that Marcus Brookes will join as chief investment officer of Quilter Investors in the second quarter.
“[He] brings great experience and insight in creating multi-asset solutions that meet client expectations which will underpin the next phase of Quilter Investors’ growth.”
Feeney said: “2021 was a year of continued business challenge caused by the covid pandemic coupled with a degree of market volatility. However, it was also a year which highlighted the strength of our advice-based model, which delivered consistent flows of around £1bn a quarter into our business during 2021 and we expect momentum to continue to improve in 2022.”
