Evelyn Partners’ assets under management and advice (AUMA) recovered by £1bn in the fourth quarter of 2022, but the £53bn at which AUMA finished the year was still some way below the £57.7bn recorded at the start of January 2022.
Last year’s difficult market conditions were reflected in Evelyn’s performance; with gross inflows of £5.4bn across the year unable to offset £3.1bn of client redemptions and £7bn lost through negative investment performance.
The majority of the damage was inflicted in the first three-quarters of the year, in which AUMA fell to £52bn.
CEO Chris Woodhouse (pictured) lauded the Q4 recovery, citing strong new business inflows and growth in operating income, which is the firm’s preferred reporting metric. Evelyn’s investment performance was net positive, albeit adding only £400m to AUMA, while net inflows were broadly in line with Q4 2021, at £600m.
Operating income hit £158.6m, up 9.8% from £144.5m in the same quarter the previous year. Growth was driven by continued strong performance from both the financial and professional services businesses.
Across the whole of 2022, the firm managed to grow its operating income by 7.1% on a full-year basis, reaching an all-time high of £600.8m. Few other financial details were provided.
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Woodhouse said: “2022 was a year of considerable development for the business. We successfully executed the rebrand, which has been well-received. We made continued progress with our digital innovation agenda and have further enhanced our client proposition. The latter included the relaunch of Bestinvest as a hybrid service combining best-in-class digital tools with free coaching, low-cost advice, and the launch of our new Smart fund range.”
He also highlighted the progress of Evelyn’s Retiring IFA (Rifa) programme, which is designed to provide financial advisers who own their businesses with a long-term home for their clients ahead of their own retirement.
With six deals completed in 2022, taking the total Rifa deals completed to eight since its 2021 launch, he said the initiative would support future inflows of AUMA.
Moving into 2023, Woodhouse regarded the outlook for Evelyn as “very positive”. He argued that the firm’s “unrivalled” combination of services leave it well-positioned to take advantage of future opportunities, adding that the firm is continuing to explore acquisition opportunities in both the financial advice and professional services sectors.
“I look forward to working with the team to maintain this momentum as we continue with our growth trajectory,” he concluded.
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