Fourth quarter new business inflows and funds under management update

St. James's Place reports robust fourth quarter flows and record funds under management

St. James’s Place plc (“SJP”), the wealth management group, today issues an update on new business inflows and funds under management for the three months ended 31 December 2020.

Andrew Croft, Chief Executive, commented:

“In the final quarter of what can only be described as an extraordinary year for individuals, families, business and broader societies across the world, I am pleased to report that St. James’s Place delivered another robust set of new business results. Gross inflows for the quarter totalled £4.02 billion, representing growth of 1% against the same period in 2019. For the year, gross inflows of £14.33 billion are just 5% lower than 2019, which given the operating environment since March, bears testament to the resilience of our business and the determination of our entire community to support clients and each other through the global pandemic.

We continued to achieve strong retention of client investments in spite of the unprecedented external conditions, resulting in net inflows of £8.25 billion, representing 7% of opening funds under management. This net investment, together with positive investment returns experienced by our clients, provided for year end funds under management of a record £129.34 billion, up 11% over the year.

Sensitive to the challenging external environment for many financial advice businesses across the UK, we decided to slow the pace of our experienced adviser recruitment activity and paused the intake of new ‘students’ to our Academy programme during the year. Despite this, continued strong adviser retention coupled with modest recruitment resulted in net adviser growth to 4,338 advisers.

Whilst the current lockdown restrictions remain in place, the operating environment will continue to be challenging. However, the quality of the Partnership and the strength of our client proposition, together with the resilience of the St. James’s Place community, underpins our confidence in the medium to long-term growth prospects of our business.”

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View the full press release (PDF).