St James’s Place: More inflows for UK’s biggest wealth manager
St James’s Place recorded net inflows of £890m over the three months to 30 September, continuing the strong pace of inflows that Britain’s biggest wealth manager has enjoyed over 2024.
The company’s retention rate stayed at 94.6 per cent, though the wealth manager has yet to finish axing its controversial exit fees.
Gross inflows were 20 per cent higher than the same quarter last year, but fell compared to last quarter. Over the three months to 30 June, the wealth manager recorded net inflows of £1.2bn.
However, net inflows were still three per cent of analyst consensus, with RBC analyst Ben Bathurst stating that the figures suggested “clients are drawing down slightly more on their assets, but are not walking away from the business”.
St James’s Place chief Mark Fitzpatrick said: “I am pleased to report a strong quarter for the group, demonstrating the power of our business model and the value inherent in the long and trusted relationships our advisers enjoy with clients”.
“The macroeconomic environment has improved since the beginning of the year, but there continues to be uncertainty in the outlook for consumers, savers and investors.”
By the end of the quarter, funds under management had swelled to £184.4bn, up from £181.9bn and ever-closer to the £186.4bn that analysts expect St James’s Place to reach by the end of the year.
Over the summer, St James’s Place announced it would embark on a £100m cost-cutting programme per year for the next two years, with cumulative cuts of around £500m expected by 2030.
“We continue to make progress on our cost and efficiency programme, our review of historic client servicing records and the implementation of our new simple and comparable charging structure,” said Fitzpatrick today.
“Overall we see the print as a further reassuring data point on the ability of the St James’s Place model to deliver healthy growth in funds under management despite the issues that have beset the business over the last 12 months,” said Bathurst.
“The group still looks a strong candidate for FTSE 100 re-entry before the year is out.”