Quilter AuMA take a slight dip in third quarter

Quilter reported assets under management and administration (AuMA) of £101.4bn as of 30 September on Wednesday - a slight dip from the £101.7bn recorded in June.

The FTSE 250 company put the marginal decline down to market conditions, the customary seasonal slowdown during the summer, and lower persistency levels in the Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) channel.

It said clients drawing down savings to combat the effects of rising inflation contributed to the shift.

In terms of net inflows, Quilter's core business saw £1m in net inflows during the third quarter - a notable contrast to the £324m reported for the same period in 2022.

Within the Quilter channel, the high net worth segment demonstrated a year-to-date annualised net inflow of 16%, while the Affluent segment showed an 11% annualised net inflow, indicating consistent growth.

Furthermore, the Quilter channel's new business gross inflows remained steady, reaching £2.7bn for the year-to-date - a 7% increase over 2022 levels.

Notably, the IFA channel saw a 20% year-on-year increase in gross inflows onto the Platform, reaching £1.3bn in the third quarter.

In contrast, the High Net Worth segment experienced portfolio repositioning, leading to outflows in the IFA and directly sourced channel, although that was partially offset by net inflows in the Quilter channel.

Non-core net outflows of £119m during the third quarter were consistent with previous quarterly figures after adjusting for one-off fund closures in the second quarter.

Quilter's productivity remained impressive, with annualized gross sales per Quilter adviser reaching £2.7m for the third quarter, marking a 23% increase compared to the previous year.

“I am pleased to have delivered steady AuMA in our seasonally slowest quarter in what remains a challenging market for new business,” said chief executive officer Steven Levin.

“The Quilter channel continues to drive strong net flows in both our Affluent and High Net Worth segments.

“Quilter channel gross sales per Quilter Adviser remained at robust levels during the quarter and were over 20% higher than that achieved in the prior year comparative period.”

Levin noted that both gross and net flows from the Quilter channel in both segments were up on the comparative quarter a year ago, despite overall market flows expected to have declined over the period.

“We continue to grow our share of new business from IFAs onto our Platform, with the third quarter experiencing a 20% increase versus Q3 2022.

“We were delighted to have the strength of our competitive position recognised with our recent award for Best Large Platform as voted by advisers at the Schroders UK Platform Awards.

"Our open and unbundled business model positions us well from both a competitive and consumer duty perspective.”

At 0833 BST, shares in Quilter were down 0.95% at 83.3p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.