The wealth manager attracted net flows totalling £9.5bn in 2017 compared to £6.8bn in 2016, taking assets under management (AUM) to £90.7bn compared to £75.3bn the previous year.
Chief executive Andrew Croft (pictured) said demographics and regulatory changes are tailwinds for the business.
“Our core target market is already large and forecast to grow further still, driven by favourable demographic trends and the accumulation of investable assets as savers take on the responsibility for providing for their own well-being in retirement.
“Meanwhile, the environment for UK savers seeking to plan their long-term financial affairs has rarely felt more difficult whether due to complexities around personal taxation, pensions freedoms, or the implications of a sustained low interest rate environment.”
The business has increased the number of advisers it works with by 7% to 3,661.
Croft downplayed the threat of digital disruption to the industry and said face-to-face advice “has never been greater”.
He said SJP had experienced increased activity around defined benefit pension transfers, which he attributed to pension freedoms and increased transfer values. However, he said pension transfers come with considerable risk and complexity.
“We have naturally been relatively cautious in recommending such a course of action, but we expect this to be an area of heightened interest for clients and one which we will continue to manage carefully in the years ahead,” he said.
SJP is developing its intergenerational proposition for clients, Croft said, with £2.8trn set to change hands between generations over the next 30 years.
Headwinds ahead for portfolios
The results noted portfolios face inflation and the withdrawal of accommodative monetary policy in 2018.
In 2017, the most cautious SJP strategy, the Defensive Portfolio, returned 4.6% net of charges, while the Adventurous Portfolio returned 12.6%.
UK inflation crept past its target level of 2% in 2017, hitting 3.1% by the end of the year.
Croft said: “Looking ahead, there are expectations that rates will increase further in both the US and the UK during 2018. Accommodative monetary policy is also slowing in other major economies, as quantitative easing programmes elsewhere in the world are beginning to be pulled back.”
Croft said Japan is a country that continues to improve and highlighted improvements in the country’s corporate governance. Late last year, SJP announced the launch of a strategy managed by Yoshihiko Ito of Nippon Value Investors, which is based in Japan.
“The investment committee has identified a manager which gives us access to some of the most interesting ideas in the world’s third-largest economy,” Croft said.
