12 May 2015 12:11
IFG Group plc - Interim Management Statement
12 May 2015
IFG Group plc, the financial services group which provides independent advice and full platform services for retirement wealth planning in the UK, issues the following update to coincide with its Annual General Meeting today, covering its business to 31 March 2015 unless otherwise indicated.
Highlights:
• The Group is on track to deliver meaningful growth in profitability in 2015
• Assets under administration and advice of £21.2bn with growth in James Hay assets to £17.3bn (Dec 2014: £16.4bn) and Saunderson House assets to £3.9bn (Dec 2014: £3.7bn)
• Strong new business momentum in both businesses in Q1 with 2,622 new SIPPs added in James Hay (Q1 2014: 1,487) and 93 client wins in Saunderson House (Q1 2014: 90)
• A number of partnership agreements reached which will materially accelerate growth in James Hay in H2.
Paul McNamara, Group CEO, commented:
"IFG is strongly positioned with two profitable businesses in attractive markets and has a strong liquid balance sheet to support further growth and investment. Based on our award-winning propositions to customers, the delivery of business efficiencies and our trading so far this year, we remain on track to deliver meaningful growth in Group profitability in 2015."
Group Performance and Strategy
Trading is in line with our expectations, with new business momentum sustained in our core businesses. James Hay Partnership and Saunderson House continue to attract increasing levels of new clients and assets, and are maintaining strong client retention. Revenues and profits in the first quarter are ahead of the same period in 2014 with continuing emphasis on margin and cost management.
In line with our strategic focus to provide independent advice and full platform services for retirement wealth planning in the UK, we continue to pursue both organic and inorganic opportunities to leverage the capability in our business. Following our successful agreement with Capita, James Hay has secured a number of partnership agreements, including back book and distribution arrangements.
While we continue to explore options to divest our interest in our Irish General Insurance business which is non-core to our Group strategy, ARB continues to perform well and is profitable.
We see underlying fundamentals sustaining continued strong growth in the platform and wealth management markets in the UK.
Trading Update - James Hay
James Hay continues to deliver on its growth strategy and both revenue and profits have increased over the corresponding period last year.
Assets under Administration increased to £17.3bn at the end of Q1 (December 2014; £16.4bn and Q1 2014: £15.6bn). Asset growth benefitted from the agreement with Capita as gross inflows of £580m were received in Q1 and net inflows of £443m (up 80% on Q1 2014).
James Hay now administers over 49,000 schemes and added 2,622 new SIPPs in the year to March (Q1 2014: 1,487). Attrition remains stable at an annualised rate of under 6%.
James Hay has evolved from being solely a SIPP provider to a full platform for retirement wealth planning. ISAs and GIAs are being increasingly used by new customers since the launch of MiPlan in 2014 with new customers this year taking advantage of the broader product offering alongside their pension assets.
Whilst our growth strategy in James Hay is primarily organic, our recent partnership arrangements will augment growth in 2015, particularly in H2.
Since the start of the year, we welcomed a new Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer to the James Hay leadership team and will continue to invest in and develop senior management to deliver on the growth strategy.
Trading Update - Saunderson House
Trading in Saunderson House has maintained momentum and new client take-on is strong. For the first three months of the year 93 new clients were added, compared to 90 in the equivalent prior year period and 247 for the full year 2014. Client retention has continued at the very high levels seen last year. The number of clients served by Saunderson House is now circa 1,700 with £3.9bn assets under advice. Revenue growth in Q1 was strong as a result and margins remain stable.
In addition to further investment in people, marketing and targeted brand development to grow the business, we will implement greater use of technology with a new on-line portal planned for Saunderson House clients to enhance client service and advisory relationships.
The robust investment process underpinning asset allocation and advice for clients continues to deliver a strong record for performance and risk management.
As the year progresses, Saunderson House plans to selectively broaden its investment offer as a discretionary management service. This will enhance its ability to tailor its service proposition based on client circumstances and broaden the proposition to a wider market.
Ends.
For further information, please contact IFG Group:
• Paul McNamara, Chief Executive Officer, Tel: +353 1 632 4800
• John Cotter, Group Finance Director, Tel: +353 1 632 4800
• Niamh Hore, Investor Relations & Corporate Development, Tel: +353 1 632 4800
Group Website: www.ifggroup.com