Rough market conditions did little to discourage AJ Bell’s growing pool of advised and D2C customers from adding net £5.8bn to its platform in the year to September 2022. This was down 17% on the £7bn recorded in FY21, but an 18% rise from the £4.8bn of net inflows reported in FY20.
Customer numbers were up across the year, with 15% more advised and 16% more D2C clients joining AJ Bell’s platform.
But the firm was not immune to adverse market movements, which shaved 11% off the platform business’ assets under advice. As a result, it ended the year with AUA of £64.1bn, down from £65.3bn in September 2021.
Net inflows across both client types were broken down as follows:
| FY 2022 | FY 2021 | |
| Advised Customers | £3.3bn | £3.8bn |
| D2C Customers | £2.5bn | £3.2bn |
The non-platform side of the business reported net outflows of £2bn following the closure of its institutional stockbroking arm, up from £0.6bn walking out of the door in FY21.
AJ Bell Investments saw total assets under management (AUM) increase 27% across the year, rising to £2.8bn at the close of FY22 from £2.2bn the previous year. All of the firm’s multi-asset funds outperformed their Investment Association benchmark over one, three and five years.
The group’s share price fell roughly 2.5% by midday to land at £2.89 a share. Year to date, it is down 25%.
In his first set of results since taking over as CEO from founder Andy Bell at the start of October, Michael Summersgill (pictured, right) said: “I am incredibly proud to have succeeded Andy as AJ Bell’s CEO and am pleased to update on another very successful year for the company.
“Organic customer growth of 16% and net inflows of £5.8bn over the year, with £1.2bn of net inflows in the last quarter alone, once again demonstrates the strength of our dual-channel platform, with both advised and D2C channels performing very well.
“Advised platform inflows were strong throughout the year and customer numbers grew 15% as advisers helped their clients to navigate significant market volatility. Net inflows for the final quarter of £0.9bn were in line with the previous two quarters, with advisers continuing to utilise the breadth of our product offering and growing suite of investment solutions to meet a wide range of client needs.
“In the D2C market our customer base grew by 16% as our easy-to-use platform continued to attract retail investors looking for a trusted provider to help them on their investment journey. Net inflows for the year were strong at £2.5bn and remained resilient during the traditionally quieter summer months, with £0.3bn of net inflows in Q4 despite a slowdown in new contributions from customers impacted by the rising cost of living.”
Summersgill added: “Our investments business delivered significant growth in assets under management, driven by underlying net inflows of over £1bn across our multi-asset funds and managed portfolio service. Our asset allocation approach has delivered for our customers with all our multi-asset funds outperforming their benchmarks over the last 12 months and all but one delivering top quartile returns.”
See also: AJ Bell inks £150,000 consultancy agreement with ex-CEO Andy Bell
