Legal & General cash machine delivers bumper Q3

- AuM up 2.3 per cent- Gross inflows accelerate- 'Growing momentum' in outlookCash generation continued to swell at Legal & General as gross inflows accelerated in the third quarter.Total assets under management rose 2.3% to £443bn, as gross inflows of 71% in the quarter lifted year-to-date inflows to 65%.International inflows were strong, with good contributions from the Gulf, US and Europe, including adding £2.9bn of assets from Legal & General France.The FTSE 100 group said its retail business continued to benefit from the growth in retail passive funds, due to greater pricing transparency following the government's implementation of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) and pricing action taken earlier in the year.On pricing, Chief Executive Nigel Wilson challenged the government and the industry over workplace pensions charging, saying the group had capped auto-enrolment pension charges at 50 basis points (bps)."The government's proposed 75bps cap needs to be strengthened in our opinion: Reducing it to 50bps could benefit pension savers by tens of thousands of pounds over a working lifetime."Even after four acquisitions, net cash has risen 20% in the year to date as L&G enjoyed improved cash generation from each of the Annuities, UK Protection, Insured Savings and With-profits businesses, while LGIM and General Insurance both made a strong contribution to operational cash generation.The assurance business delivered premiums well ahead of 2012, with retail protection sales up 11% boosted by the UK housing market and continuing to trade well in October.Overall, Wilson lauded the group's broad-based growth and said the outlook was very robust."We see growing momentum in the business, driven by our strategic responses to five growth macro trends: homogenous asset markets and international investment management; ageing populations and retirement solutions; digital lifestyles requiring digital solutions; welfare reform which creates opportunities for pensions and protection; and bank retrenchment which is creating direct investment opportunities."OH