St James's Place battles through 'particularly difficult' quarter

St James's Place saw inflows slow in the final months of the year and saw challenging market conditions squeeze funds under management.

The FTSE 100 wealth manager recorded net inflows of £2.6bn in the final quarter but group FUM shrank 5% to £95.6bn over the preceding quarter after being hit by the sizeable wobble in global investment markets.

Chief executive Andrew Croft said the "particularly difficult" market conditions in the final quarter compared to an "exceptional" quarter the year before but the company had still managed to attract inflows.

He said the quarter began strongly but inflows weakened in the final two months, resulting in gross inflows for the fourth quarter of £3.95bn, which he described as "robust" and only slightly lower than the record £4bn gross in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Full-year gross inflows amounted to £15.7bn and net inflows of £10.3bn, both up 8%. Net inflows were equivalent to 11% of opening funds under management.

Croft hailed the continued strength in retention of clients, with 96% retention of client funds.

"Central to our approach to wealth management is the importance we place on building and maintaining long lasting relationships with, and between, our Partners and clients and serving them well. We continue to see a growing demand for advice and believe the strength, quality and growth of our own dedicated team of advisers affords us key competitive advantage."

There was an 8% increase in the number of qualified advisers working across the partner businesses, taking the total to 3,954.

"While challenging market conditions, like those currently being experienced, will slow the pace of fund inflows from time to time, the fundamentals of our clients' financial planning requirements remain unchanged," Croft concluded.

"I firmly believe that, with continued focus on achieving the best possible outcomes for our clients through the provision of trusted face-to-face financial advice and our distinctive investment management approach, we remain extremely well placed to continue to grow our business in line with our objectives over the medium term."