AJ Bell Regulatory News (AJB)

RNS Number : 4778D

AJ Bell PLC

20 October 2022

 

20 October 2022

AJ Bell plc

Year-end trading update

 

AJ Bell plc ("AJ Bell" or the "Company"), one of the UK's largest investment platforms, today issues a trading update in respect of its financial year ended 30 September 2022.

 

Performance overview

Platform business

·	Customer numbers increased by 57,687 to close at 425,652, up 16% in the year, as the Company's dual-channel model continued to deliver strong organic growth in both advised and D2C customers
	o  Total advised customers increased by 18,451 to close at 145,371, up 15% in the year o  Total D2C customers increased by 39,236 to close at 280,281, up 16% in the year
·	AUA closed the year down 2% at £64.1 billion, with strong net inflows in the year offset by adverse market movements of 11%. During the year the FTSE All-Share Index fell by 7%, whilst the FTSE 250 Index fell by 25%(1)
·	Gross and net inflows were resilient against a volatile market backdrop. Whilst being lower than the very strong prior year comparatives, gross inflows were 36% higher and net inflows were 18% higher than those achieved two years ago in FY20
	o  Gross inflows in the year of £10.1 billion (FY21: £10.9 billion; FY20: £7.4 billion) o  Net inflows in the year of £5.8 billion (FY21: £7.0 billion; FY20: £4.9 billion)

 

AJ Bell Investments

·	Assets under management ("AUM") increased by 27% in the year to close at £2.8 billion (FY21: £2.2 billion)
·	Underlying net inflows in the year were £1.05 billion, an increase of 14% versus the prior year (FY21: £922 million)
·	All of AJ Bell's multi-asset funds have outperformed their Investment Association sector benchmark over one, three and five years to 30 September 2022

 

Non-platform business

·	Customer numbers increased by 1%, closing at 14,937
·	Net outflows in the year were £2.0 billion (FY21: £0.6 billion) following the previously reported closure of AJ Bell's institutional stockbroking business

(1) Relevant benchmark indices considered for comparison purposes

Benchmark	FTSE All-Share	FTSE 100	FTSE 250	MSCI World (GBP)
Performance (Year to 30 September 2022)	(7%)	(3%)	(25%)	(2%)

Michael Summersgill, Chief Executive Officer at AJ Bell, commented:

"I am incredibly proud to have succeeded Andy as AJ Bell's CEO and am pleased to update on another very successful year for the Company.

"Organic customer growth of 16% and net inflows of £5.8 billion over the year, with £1.2 billion of net inflows in the last quarter alone, once again demonstrates the strength of our dual-channel platform, with both advised and D2C channels performing very well.

"Advised platform inflows were strong throughout the year and customer numbers grew 15% as advisers helped their clients to navigate significant market volatility. Net inflows for the final quarter of £0.9 billion were in line with the previous two quarters, with advisers continuing to utilise the breadth of our product offering and growing suite of investment solutions to meet a wide range of client needs.

"In the D2C market our customer base grew by 16% as our easy-to-use platform continued to attract retail investors looking for a trusted provider to help them on their investment journey. Net inflows for the year were strong at £2.5 billion and remained resilient during the traditionally quieter summer months, with £0.3 billion of net inflows in Q4 despite a slowdown in new contributions from customers impacted by the rising cost of living. Dodl, our new investing app, has been well received by customers looking for a simpler way to invest and we have recently launched some new features with the addition of US equities to the investment range and the enabling of account transfers from other providers. 

"Our investments business delivered significant growth in assets under management, driven by underlying net inflows of over £1 billion across our multi-asset funds and managed portfolio service. Our asset allocation approach has delivered for our customers with all our multi-asset funds outperforming their benchmarks over the last 12 months and all but one delivering top quartile returns.

"Despite the challenging economic backdrop, our business model continues to perform exceptionally well. We have a talented and experienced management team in place that is focused on achieving our growth ambitions in the investment platform market. Together we are extremely excited about the long-term prospects for AJ Bell."

 

Investor Site Visit

AJ Bell is hosting a site visit for institutional investors and analysts at the Company's head office in Manchester this afternoon. No new material information will be provided. A copy of the slides and Q&A transcript will be made available at ajbell.co.uk/investor-relations after the event.

Year ended 30 September 2022	Advised Platform	D2C Platform	Total Platform	Non-platform	Total
Opening customers	126,920	241,045	367,965	14,789	382,754
Closing customers	145,371	280,281	425,652	14,937	440,589
AUA and AUM (£billion)
Opening AUA	45.8	19.5	65.3	7.5	72.8
Inflows(1)	6.2	3.9	10.1	0.2	10.3
Outflows(2)	(2.9)	(1.4)	(4.3)	(2.2)	(6.5)
Net inflows/(outflows)	3.3	2.5	5.8	(2.0)	3.8
Market and other movements(3)	(4.3)	(2.7)	(7.0)	(0.4)	(7.4)
Closing AUA	44.8	19.3	64.1	5.1	69.2
Closing AUM	1.7	1.0	2.7(4)	0.1(5)	2.8
Year ended 30 September 2021	Advised Platform	D2C Platform	Total Platform	Non-platform	Total
Opening customers	108,911	172,183	281,094	14,211	295,305
Closing customers	126,920	241,045	367,965	14,789	382,754
AUA and AUM (£billion)
Opening AUA	36.3	13.4	49.7	6.8	56.5
Inflows(1)	6.3	4.6	10.9	0.2	11.1
Outflows(2)	(2.5)	(1.4)	(3.9)	(0.8)	(4.7)
Net inflows/(outflows)	3.8	3.2	7.0	(0.6)	6.4
Market and other movements(3)	5.7	2.9	8.6	1.3	9.9
Closing AUA	45.8	19.5	65.3	7.5	72.8
Closing AUM	1.3	0.8	2.1(4)	0.1(5)	2.2

 

(1) Transfers-in, subscriptions, contributions and tax relief

(2) Transfers-out, cash withdrawals, benefits and tax payments

(3) Total investment returns and revaluations, net of charges and taxes

(4) Platform AUA which is held in AJ Bell's Funds or Managed Portfolio Service

(5) Assets which are held in AJ Bell's Funds or Managed Portfolio Service via third-party platforms

 

 

Contacts:

 

AJ Bell

 

·	Shaun Yates, Investor Relations Director	+44 (0) 7522 235 898
·	Charlie Musson, Brand and PR Director	+44 (0) 7834 499 554

 

  

Historical customer numbers, AUA and AUM by quarter

Advised Platform	Qtr to 30 September 2021	Qtr to 31 December 2021	Qtr to 31 March 2022	Qtr to 30 June 2022	Qtr to 30 September 2022
Customers	126,920	131,610	137,201	141,856	145,371
AUA and AUM (£billion)
Opening AUA	44.2	45.8	47.5	46.5	44.3
Inflows(1)	1.7	1.6	1.6	1.5	1.5
Outflows(2)	(0.7)	(1.0)	(0.7)	(0.6)	(0.6)
Net inflows	1.0	0.6	0.9	0.9	0.9
Market and other movements(3)	0.6	1.1	(1.9)	(3.1)	(0.4)
Closing AUA	45.8	47.5	46.5	44.3	44.8
Closing AUM(4)	1.3	1.2	1.4	1.4	1.7

 

D2C Platform	Qtr to 30 September 2021	Qtr to 31 December 2021	Qtr to 31 March 2022	Qtr to 30 June 2022	Qtr to 30 September 2022
Customers	241,045	251,664	266,182	275,647	280,281
AUA and AUM (£billion)
Opening AUA	18.9	19.5	20.6	20.4	19.2
Inflows(1)	1.0	1.1	1.1	1.1	0.6
Outflows(2)	(0.4)	(0.3)	(0.4)	(0.4)	(0.3)
Net inflows	0.6	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.3
Market and other movements(3)	-	0.3	(0.9)	(1.9)	(0.2)
Closing AUA	19.5	20.6	20.4	19.2	19.3
Closing AUM(4)	0.8	0.9	0.9	1.0	1.0

 

Non-platform	Qtr to 30 September 2021	Qtr to 31 December 2021	Qtr to 31 March 2022	Qtr to 30 June 2022	Qtr to 30 September 2022
Customers	14,789	14,792	14,926	14,947	14,937
AUA and AUM (£billion)
Opening AUA	7.3	7.5	7.5	7.2	5.2
Inflows(1)	-	0.1	-	0.1	-
Outflows(2)	(0.1)	(0.2)	(0.1)	(1.8)	(0.1)
Net outflows	(0.1)	(0.1)	(0.1)	(1.7)	(0.1)
Market and other movements(3)	0.3	0.1	(0.2)	(0.3)	-
Closing AUA	7.5	7.5	7.2	5.2	5.1
Closing AUM(5)	0.1	-	-	0.1	0.1
Total closing AUA	72.8	75.6	74.1	68.7	69.2
Total closing AUM	2.2	2.1	2.3	2.5	2.8

 

(1) Transfers-in, subscriptions, contributions and tax relief

(2) Transfers-out, cash withdrawals, benefits and tax payments

(3) Total investment returns and revaluations, net of charges and taxes

(4) Platform AUA which is held in AJ Bell's Funds or Managed Portfolio Service

(5) Assets which are held in AJ Bell's Funds or Managed Portfolio Service via third-party platforms

About AJ Bell:

Established in 1995, AJ Bell is one of the largest investment platforms in the UK, operating at scale in both the advised and direct-to-consumer markets.

Our purpose is to help people invest by providing them with easy-to-use online services and information to help them build and manage their portfolios.

We do that via our three platform propositions - AJ Bell Investcentre in the advised market and AJ Bell Youinvest and Dodl by AJ Bell in the direct-to-consumer market, which all give investors access to Pensions, ISAs and General Investment / Dealing Accounts.

AJ Bell Investcentre and AJ Bell Youinvest provide access to a broad investment range including shares and other instruments traded on the major stock exchanges around the world, as well as all mainstream collective investments available in the UK and our own range of AJ Bell funds.

Dodl by AJ Bell offers a simplified investment range to make it easier for customers to choose investments and buy and sell them without paying any commission. 

We also offer a Cash savings hub via AJ Bell Youinvest which provides access to a range of competitive savings accounts to help people manage their cash savings.

AJ Bell is headquartered in Manchester, UK, with offices in London and Bristol.

 

Forward-looking statements

 

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, and actual results and developments may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. These forward-looking statements are statements regarding AJ Bell's intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, its results of operations, financial condition, prospects, growth, strategies, and the industry in which it operates. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement and AJ Bell does not undertake any obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement.

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