(Alliance News) - St James's Place PLC on Thursday recorded a drop in funds under management over the first quarter, but was happy with its "strong" performance.
Shares in St James's Place were 2.1% higher in London on Thursday morning at 1,301.00 pence each.
The blue chip wealth manager ended the first quarter with funds under management of GBP151.25 billion, rising sharply from GBP135.46 billion at the same point the year prior. SJP ended 2021 with GBP153.99 billion in funds under management.
Chief Executive Andrew Croft said: "I am pleased to report another strong quarter for St James's Place that maintains the momentum developed during 2021.
"Whilst the landscape was significantly impacted by the tragic events in Ukraine since February, we continued to see high levels of activity throughout the period as advisers and clients sought ways of mitigating the risks posed to long-term financial planning by higher inflation and macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. This highlights the ongoing resilience of our business model."
SJP recorded GBP2.91 billion in net inflows, but saw a negative GBP5.65 billion investment return.
"Our gross and net inflows were broadly in line with the first quarter of 2021, which was an exceptionally strong period for gross inflows as sentiment improved markedly following the start of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout in the UK," Croft continued.
"Retention of client investments continued to hold at a very strong level and this, coupled with our strong inflows, resulted in annualised net inflows as a percentage of opening funds under management of 7.6%."
Investment funds under management slipped to GBP34.97 billion from GBP35.95 billion, Pension funds dropped to GBP73.75 billion from GBP74.83 billion, while UT/ISA & DFM funds were down to GBP42.53 billion from GBP43.21 billion.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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St James's Place (STJ)