Cofunds posts surge in pre-tax profit for 2014

UK investment platform Cofunds has reported an 83% increase in pre-tax profits of £7.7m for 2014 due in part to a big growth in retail pension assets using its service.

Cofunds posts surge in pre-tax profit for 2014
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Cofunds, which is owned by Legal & General, said net flows for last year were £5.4bn taking its total assets under administration (AUA) to £71.9bn, up from £64.1bn at the end of December 2013.

Investment platforms like Cofunds allow people to buy investments through financial advisers and other institutions, such as stockbrokers and banks. They provide the technology and services to help these investors manage their portfolio in one secure, online portal.

Cofunds, rated by Fundscape as the biggest UK platform by assets under administration (AUA) with a 21% market share, offers financial advisers, intermediaries and their clients access to over 2,500 funds from more than 100 fund managers.

It said retail pension assets under administration on the platform had reached £3.2bn last year, contributing to that was a dramatic increase of new business into its Pension Account, with volumes more than doubling during the second half of the year.

“2014 was another strong year where we continued to grow our AUA and cemented our position as the largest platform provider in the UK,” said David Hobbs, chief executive of Cofunds.

“Gross profits increased significantly year on year, thanks to a combination of our high AUA, strong inflows from all channels – advisory, self-directed, institutional and bancassurance – and operational service programmes delivering cost efficiencies,” he said.

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