AJ Bell upbeat after 'strong' third quarter

Shares in AJ Bell sparked in morning trading on Thursday, after the investment platform saw both customer numbers and inflows jump.

Updating on third-quarter trading, AJ Bell said that customer numbers in the three months to 30 June rose 5% to 528,000, while assets under administration jumped 4% to £83.7bn.

Gross and net inflows were also "significantly" higher year-on-year, it noted, as the "strong" trading seen in the second quarter continued into the third.

Gross inflows were £3.7bn, compared to £2.4bn a year previously, while net inflows rose to £1.7n from £1.1bn.

Assets under management, meanwhile, were up 9% at £6.3bn.

Michael Summersgill, chief executive, said: "Our strategy of serving both the advised and direct to consumer markets helped us to attract a significant number of new customers and assets from both sub-sectors of the growing platform market.

"We enter our final quarter with strong momentum. Our dual-strategy and continued investment into our brand, technology and products puts us in an excellent position to capture future market share gains."

As at 0830 BST, shares in AJ Bell were up 4% at 414.5p.

Summersgill also noted that AJ Bell was "actively engaging" with the new government, including putting forward proposals to simplify the ISA system.

"AJ Bell’s purpose is to help people invest,"” he said. "However, many people are put off investing due to a lack of confidence, not helped by the complexity of the UK investments market."