St. James's Place maintains positive flows amid 'uncertain' environment

Wealth management company St. James’s Place updated the market on its new business and funds under management for the third quarter on Tuesday, with gross inflows falling to £3.74bn from £3.83bn last year.

The FTSE 100 company said net inflows for the three months totalled £2.11bn, down from £2.47bn at the same time last year, while closing funds under management stood at £112.82bn, up from £100.59bn in the third quarter last year.

It said its annualised funds under management retention rate was 96%, slipping slightly from 96.2% year-on-year, while net inflows-to-opening funds under management were 7.7% on an annualised basis, compared to 10.2% in the third quarter a year ago.

“In what remains an uncertain external environment, these figures once again highlight the resilience of our business model and the outstanding role our partners and support staff play in providing for trusted, long-term financial advice to our clients,” said St. James’s Place chief executive officer Andrew Croft.

“While political and macroeconomic uncertainty may affect the pace of some discretionary investment flows from time to time, it has no bearing on the continuing need for holistic, long-term financial planning. Indeed, we see demand for sound, personal and trusted financial advice growing while at the same time the 'advice gap' remains.

“I take great pride in the scale and professionalism of the St. James's Place Partnership and I am confident that our comprehensive and distinct client proposition, which is highly valued by our clients, means we are well positioned to continue to grow over the medium to long-term.”