(Alliance News) - Blue-chip wealth manager St James's Place PLC on Thursday reported a "robust" set for results for the final quarter of 2020.
Cirencester-headquartered STJ ended 2020 with GBP129.34 billion funds under management - a record for the company - compared to GBP118.70 billion at the end of September and up from GBP116.99 billion at the same point the year before.
Gross inflows amounted to GBP4.02 billion in the three months to December 31, with net inflows of GBP2.29 billion. Net inflows were driven by STJ's Pension funds, which saw net flows of GBP1.67 billion, with Investment funds seeing net inflows of GBP70 million and UT/ISA & DFM gaining GBP550 million.
On top of this, STJ saw GBP8.35 billion added to total funds from its investment performance.
"In the final quarter of what can only be described as an extraordinary year for individuals, families, business and broader societies across the world, I am pleased to report that St James's Place delivered another robust set of new business results. Gross inflows for the quarter totalled GBP4.02 billion, representing growth of 1% against the same period in 2019," Chief Executive Andrew Croft said.
He added: "For the year, gross inflows of GBP14.33 billion are just 5% lower than 2019, which given the operating environment since March, bears testament to the resilience of our business and the determination of our entire community to support clients and each other through the global pandemic."
STJ's Pension funds under management ended 2020 at GBP61.31 billion, up from GBP55.57 billion three months earlier. Investment funds closed the fourth quarter at GBP32.22 billion compared to GBP30.18 billion at the open of the quarter. UT/ISA & DFM funds rose to GBP35.81 billion from GBP32.95 billion over the three months.
"We continued to achieve strong retention of client investments in spite of the unprecedented external conditions, resulting in net inflows of £8.25 billion, representing 7% of opening funds under management," Croft said.
He continued: "Sensitive to the challenging external environment for many financial advice businesses across the UK, we decided to slow the pace of our experienced adviser recruitment activity and paused the intake of new 'students' to our Academy programme during the year. Despite this, continued strong adviser retention coupled with modest recruitment resulted in net adviser growth to 4,338 advisers."
Looking ahead, STJ said the near-term operating environment will "continue to be challenging".
"However, the quality of the partnership and the strength of our client proposition, together with the resilience of the St James's Place community, underpins our confidence in the medium to long-term growth prospects of our business," Croft added.
Shares in St James's Place were 0.7% lower in London on Thursday morning at 1,184.50 pence each.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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St James's Place (STJ)