Sales were up 53% to £4.5bn with total assets held now £25.5bn, up from £21.6bn for the same period last year.
The group’s final results to end December 2013 showed multi-manager business Architas’ assets were up 13% to £12.8bn while Elevate saw a 41% rise in assets under management, from £5.3bn to £7.5bn.
AUM for Axa Wealth Specialist Products, including its Sipp, pension, onshore and offshore bonds held outside the wrap, and Corporate Trustee Investment Plans, were 11% higher, growing from £15.7bn to £17.4bn over the year.
Axa Wealth said 2013 had seen strong investment in its Elevate platform and extended the reach of its Architas multi-manager funds via agreements with other platforms.
Chief executive Mike Kellard said: “Confidence in the economy has increased and we have continued to outperform the market in terms of growth and last year’s results give us a strong basis from which to build. This is what 2014 will be about for us – leveraging our success and investing further to enhance our strategy of delivering flexible, functionally-rich yet straightforward investment platforms in the UK.”
Kellard added that the business was keen to understand investor behaviour and help tackle savings inertia, the complexity of financial jargon and consumer attitudes to accessing advice.
He said Axa Wealth would be committing £120,000 through the Axa Research Fund into research at the London School of Economics to explore how individual behaviours drive consumers’ buying behaviour when it comes to financial products.
Meanwhile, Axa Investment Managers reported €547bn of global AUM at the end of 2013, up from €532bn last year. Net flows were up €12bn.
More details on Axa IM's funds business results will be published next month.
