11 Dec 2020 07:00
11 December 2020
Nucleus Financial Group plc
('Nucleus' or the 'Company')
Completion of acquisition of relevant assets of OpenWealth
and
Update on Q4 trading
Assets under administration increase 7.2% on previous quarter to £17.3bn, net inflows up 102% on Q3 2020
Completion of acquisition
Further to the announcement made on 2 November 2020, and following the satisfaction of all conditions precedent, Nucleus (AIM: NUC), a leading independent wrap platform provider, is pleased to announce that completion of the acquisition of certain assets of OpenWealth as they pertain to Nucleus took place on 10 December 2020.
Update on Q4 trading
The Company is pleased to report significantly improved net inflows, increased AUA and continued new firm momentum with the signing of a new enterprise relationship. As a result of this strong Q4 performance to date, both adjusted Ebitda for the year ending 31 December 2020 and year-end AUA are expected to exceed the board's expectations.
· At close of business on 9 December 2020, AUA was £17.3bn, an increase of £1.16bn or 7.2%, since 30 September, comprising £997m of positive market movements and £166m of net inflows.
· Net inflows Q4 to date consisted of £388m of gross inflows and £222m of outflows, with both measures improving as late summer momentum accelerated.
· Outflows have reduced significantly over the year, reducing by 19.6% for the period from 1 October 2020 to 9 December 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 and by 23.4% for the year to 9 December 2020 compared to the same period in the prior year.
· The change of operating model as a consequence of the acquisition of the OpenWealth assets is expected to result in the cost base becoming increasingly fixed in nature, which is expected to accelerate margin expansion as AUA grows.
· An enterprise relationship has been formally agreed with a new adviser network.
· Nucleus IMX, the new model portfolio service has enjoyed a successful soft launch period and will start to be promoted across the wider audience from 1 January 2021.
David Ferguson, Nucleus' founder and CEO, commented:
"I am delighted that the acquisition of the relevant assets of OpenWealth has been completed. The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing in 2021 and increasingly accretive in future years. I very much welcome the OpenWealth team into the Nucleus group and look forward to working with them closely as we continue to grow the business."
"We came into 2020 in great shape and as flows dipped through the height of the pandemic, we chose to maintain our focus and continue to invest in the things that make the greatest difference to our users, in the expectation that momentum would return as it has. The recovery in net inflows re-establishes the positive momentum from the start of the year and for the period 1 October to 9 December 2020 they are up 49.5% on the same period in 2019 and already more than double the net inflows for the whole of Q3 2020."
"We will close the year having delivered several major product enhancements, completed the acquisition of the relevant OpenWealth assets, landed our first enterprise firm and started the roll out of our new model portfolio service, Nucleus IMX, all while maintaining operations and service levels through the crisis."
"This packed agenda has been recognised in Platforum's most recent report in which we recorded the highest increase in adviser satisfaction scores in the last six years and has led us to be shortlisted for the Schroders Platform of the Year and retain a 5-star service rating by FT Adviser."
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For further information please contact:
Nucleus
David Ferguson, CEO Tel: +44 (0)13 1226 9800
Stuart Geard, Chief Financial Officer
Shore Capital (Nominated Adviser and Broker)
Hugh Morgan Tel: +44 (0)20 7408 4090
Edward Mansfield
Daniel Bush
Camarco (Media enquiries)
Jennifer Renwick Tel: +44 (0)20 3757 4994
Jake Thomas Notes to Editors
About Nucleus
Nucleus is a wrap platform founded in 2006 by advisers committed to altering the balance of power in the industry by putting the customer centre stage. It provides independent wrap platform services to over 1,400 active adviser users and works with 880 financial adviser firms as at 11 December 2020. It is responsible for AUA of £17.3bn on behalf of more than 100,000 customers.
The multi award-winning platform offers a range of custody, trading, payment, reporting, fee-handling, research and integration services across a variety of tax wrappers and more than 6,500 asset choices including cash, OEICs, unit trusts, offshore funds, structured products and listed securities, including ETFs and investment trusts. The platform currently facilitates over 1.1 million customer account transactions on average per month.
Nucleus has been awarded CoreData's 'Best medium sized platform' for 2020 (and the last nine years). It has also been awarded a 5-star service rating at the 2020 and 2019 Financial Adviser Awards, the Schroders 'Platform of the Year' award for 2016, 2017 and 2018 and won 'Best Platform' and 'Platform Innovation' at the 2018 Money Marketing Awards.