LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - British wealth manager St James's Place posted net inflows of 2.91 billion pounds ($3.65 billion) in the first quarter as clients looked to protect themselves against inflation and geopolitical risks, it said on Thursday.
Negative market returns took some shine off the strong inflows, however, it added.
Funds under management ended the quarter at 151.25 billion pounds, 12% higher than a year earlier but down from the 154 billion the firm reported at year-end 2021.
JPMorgan analysts said the inflows were stronger than expected, describing the trading update as "solid" and reiterating their neutral rating on the stock.
The company's shares fell 0.9%, however, making it one of the weakest performers in the FTSE 100,
Some global fund managers are facing outflows on concerns over growth due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Asset manager Jupiter this week reported net outflows of 1.6 billion pounds for the quarter.
Schroders said on Thursday that its AUM rose 3% to 752.7 billion pounds at end-March, with a rise in its multi-asset category Solutions compensating for a fall in its mutual funds. It did not provide flows data.
Its shares rose 1%.
($1 = 0.7990 pounds) ($1 = 0.7978 pounds) (Reporting by Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru and Andres Gonzalez and Carolyn Cohn in London, editing by Sinead Cruise)
St James's Place (STJ)
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP)
Schroders (SDR)
