23 Oct 2020 07:00
23 October 2020
Nucleus Financial Group plc
('Nucleus' or the 'Company')
Q3 2020 AUA update
Assets under administration increase 1.8% on previous quarter to £16.1bn
Nucleus (AIM: NUC), a leading independent wrap platform provider, today publishes an update on its assets under administration (AUA) in respect of the three months to 30 September 2020.
Despite the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on investor sentiment and market growth, the Company has continued to increase AUA, which stood at £16.1bn at 30 September 2020, up 1.8% on the previous quarter and 2.6% year-on-year. By comparison, the FTSE All-Share Index decreased 3.8% on the last quarter and fell by 19.2% year-on-year.
Highlights
- AUA increased to £16.1bn, an increase of 1.8% on the previous quarter and up 2.6% year-on-year.
- Gross inflows of £373m were achieved in Q3, a slight reduction on the previous quarter (Q2 2020: £384m) as a consequence of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
- Outflows from the platform reduced by 23.2% in Q3 2020 compared to Q3 2019 and reduced by 24.4% year-to-date 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
- Net inflows for Q3 2020 decreased by 26.1% year-on-year to £82m, but are up by 44.7% year-to-date compared to the same period in 2019.
- Advisers actively using the platform remained broadly flat against the comparable period.
- Customer numbers increased by 4.1% year-on-year.
- Continued investment in the platform proposition over the quarter saw the introduction of new and enhanced products and features, including the rollout of new model portfolio service Nucleus IMX.
- Awarded CoreData's 'Best medium platform' award for 2020, which has been retained for the last nine years.
AUA and inflows
| Quarter ended30 Sep 2020 | Quarter ended 30 Sep 2019 | YTD ended 30 Sep 2020 | YTD ended30 Sep 2019 |
| £m | £m | £m | £m |
Opening AUA | 15,825 | 15,332 | 16,141 | 13,884 |
Inflows | 373 | 490 | 1,337 | 1,444 |
Outflows | (291) | (379) | (822) | (1,088) |
Net flows | 82 | 111 | 515 | 356 |
Market movements | 196 | 254 | (553) | 1,457 |
Closing AUA | 16,103 | 15,697 | 16,103 | 15,697 |
Daily average AUA | 16,041 | 15,552 | 15,598 | 15,004 |
David Ferguson, Nucleus' founder and CEO, commented:
"Covid-19 looks set to dominate our lives for at least the remainder of the year and is likely to have a continued impact for a time to come. In these challenging times, the health and well-being of our staff remain our highest priority. While we have re-opened a portion of the office, within government guidelines, almost all of our people continue to work from home. We have ensured they have the tools they need to deliver the very best possible service, and there has been no disruption to service during the period. Continuing to focus on what is under our direct control resulted in us achieving our highest ever net promoter score and being awarded CoreData's best medium platform for the ninth year in succession. These are clear indicators that our users appreciate the achievements of our people through these troubled times."
"Despite a significant reduction in markets this year, with the FTSE All-Share down 21.8% since the start of the year, our AUA at the end of Q3 2020 was back to the level we started the year, at £16.1bn. Despite a softer Q3 in terms of net inflows, our year-to-date position remains ahead at £515m compared to £356m in 2019, a 44.7% increase on the same period last year. It's worth noting that in terms of gross inflows, while these dipped in August the figures for September are more positive."
"Our focus throughout the pandemic has been to ensure we are well set for the months and years to come, concentrating on the things that matter to our business that are within our control. This has meant a commitment to continuing to invest in the platform. Q3 has been no exception, and I'm proud that the team have delivered not only new e-signature capability to flex to a new way of working, but also to have rolled out our new model portfolio service, Nucleus IMX. On top of this, we completed our third major software release of the year in the quarter, which added new adviser fee options, automated phased investment, improved phased drawdown and enhancements to bulk model portfolios.
"While the future impact of the Covid-19 crisis remains unknown, there has perhaps never been more of a pressing need for high-quality financial planning, and as such, we remain positive about the long-term future of the sector."
Historical flows and AUA data by quarter
| Q4 2017 | Q1 2018 | Q2 2018 | Q3 2018 | Q4 2018 | Q1 2019
| Q2 2019 | Q3 2019 | Q4 2019 | Q1 2020 | Q2 2020 | Q3 2020 |
| £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m |
Opening AUA | 12,889 | 13,577 | 13,527 | 14,339 | 14,693 | 13,884 | 14,753 | 15,332 | 15,697 | 16,141
| 13,986 | 15,825 |
Inflows | 597 | 665 | 600 | 563 | 462 | 466 | 488 | 490 | 497 | 580 | 384 | 373 |
Outflows | (205) | (254) | (285) | (281) | (277) | (332) | (377) | (379) | (344) | (312) | (219) | (291) |
Net flows | 392 | 411 | 315 | 282 | 185 | 134 | 111 | 111 | 153 | 268 | 165 | 82 |
Market movements | 296 | (461) | 497 | 72 | (994) | 735 | 468 | 254 | 291 | (2423) | 1,674 | 196 |
Closing AUA | 13,577 | 13,527 | 14,339 | 14,693 | 13,884 | 14,753 | 15,332 | 15,697 | 16,141 | 13,986 | 15,825 | 16,103 |
Daily average AUA | 13,313 | 13,609 | 14,086 | 14,585 | 14,202 | 14,399 | 15,047 | 15,552 | 15,704 | 15,636 | 15,112 | 16,041 |
~ Ends ~
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 1,372 active adviser users and works with more than 880 financial adviser firms as at 30 September 2020. It is responsible for AUA of £16.1bn on behalf of more than 99,000 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 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.