Investment platform AJ Bell has hit £69.8bn assets under administration (AUA), a record high for the firm.
In a trading update for the quarter to 30 June, the platform revealed AUA is up 2% in the period and 10% over the last year.
Meanwhile, AJ Bell recorded net inflows of £1.1bn across the quarter, slightly down from the £1.5bn pulled in Q3 of last year. The firm’s platform business added over 10,000 new customers in the period, up 2% to 465,614.
See also: AJ Bell reaps rewards from high interest rates
The investments arm assets under management (AUM) grew 10% in the quarter to £4.3bn. This marks a 72% increase in the last year.
CEO Michael Summersgill (pictured) said: “In a market where many asset managers are suffering persistent net outflows, the strong performance and low-cost nature of our multi-asset investment solutions continues to attract new assets in both the advised and D2C markets, with net inflows in the quarter of £0.4 billion.”
“In the advised market there has been a moderation in transfer activity as advisers and their clients exercise more caution in the face of ongoing uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment,” he added. “Despite that, we attracted £0.4 billion of net inflows to our advised platform during the quarter and added almost 3,000 new customers.”
“The sharp rise in interest rates has stimulated strong demand for short-dated government bonds and money market funds, with eight of the 20 most popular investment choices by traded value in the quarter falling into these categories.”
The period also saw the industry gear up for the incoming Consumer Duty.
On the new regulation, Summersgill said: “More broadly, we are well prepared for the implementation of the new Consumer Duty coming into force at the end of this month. We believe this will be positive for consumers, with an increased focus on value for money and ensuring good customer outcomes set to improve standards within the market.
“It is important that there is no delay beyond the next year in the new duty applying to legacy pension schemes, particularly given the FCA has recently stated that savers in older schemes may be at greatest risk of poor value for money.”
See also: AJ Bell names M&G director as chair to succeed Helena Morrissey
