The UK wealth manager and advisory firm platform, whose clients include Towry, Tilney Bestinvest and Brewin Dolphin, experienced H1 net flow growth of more than 30% year-on-year.
This wave of new money contributed to SEI’s assets under administration climbing 9.2% from £21.7bn to £23.7bn in the first six months of 2015.
While Martin Steer, SEI commercial director, said that there is not necessarily more money around, he cited increasing interest in the investment management space as a key influence behind wealth management firms continuing exhibit organic growth.
“With the increased amount you can save in an ISA, alongside the tax changes and pension reforms, we are seeing a lot of money flowing between products,” he expanded.
“To become more tax-efficient clients take money out of general investment accounts and moving it into ISAs, which happens every year, but the key aspect of [these growth figures] is that existing clients have been adding to their portfolios.”
The SEI report comes in the wake of a Find A Wealth Manager study in which almost half of high net-worth clients highlighted the changing tax environment as their primary concern.
Brett Williams, SEI managing director, forecasted that more wealth management firms will look to outsource technology to platforms as their emphasis switches to providing financial guidance and core business growth.
He said: “With regulatory and competitive pressures for wealth managers remaining, the U.K. market continues to be strong as more firms see the benefits of outsourcing their technology to platforms.
“We believe this trend will continue as wealth management firms burdened by time-consuming administrative challenges seek operational efficiencies.”
