St. James's Place lifts expectations after record third quarter

St. James’s Place reported funds under management of £148.06bn as at 30 September on Thursday, up from £118.7bn year-on-year, making for a record third quarter close, as it lifted its expectations for the full year.

The FTSE 100 wealth manager said gross inflows for the three months totalled £4.32bn, compared to £3.05bn a year earlier.

Net inflows were also higher, at £2.59bn compared to £1.44bn in the third quarter of 2020.

St. James’s Place reported an annualised year-to-date funds under management retention rate of 96.2%, broadly in line with the 96.4% it recorded a year ago.

Annualised year-to-date net inflows-to-opening funds under management, meanwhile, came in at 8.4%, up from 6.8% at the same time last year.

“Increased personal savings and improving consumer confidence have provided a favorable market backdrop and this, together with the great work our advisers do in supporting clients with their long-term financial planning, has driven gross inflows of £4.32bn for the quarter, up strongly against a soft comparator in 2020,” said chief executive officer Andrew Croft.

“Retention has remained robust, underpinning net inflows of £2.59bn for the period, and contributing to funds under management closing at £148.06bn, up 14% year to-date.”

Croft said there remained uncertainty around the near-term economic and investment market outlook, but added that the company was “in great shape”, as it now expected the rate of gross inflow growth for the second half to be “modestly ahead” of its previous guidance issued in late July.

“As a result, we expect growth in gross inflows for the full year to be around 25%.

“Beyond 2021, it is natural that we will see variations in the pattern of new business growth we achieve over time, but our performance this year gives us every confidence in the 2025 ambitions we set out for St. James's Place earlier this year.”