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Three of the UK’s biggest money managers reported strong inflows in the third quarter alongside warnings of uncertainty about measures that could be revealed by chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Budget in just over a month.
St James’s Place reported net inflows of £1.76bn over the third quarter, up from £890mn in the same period a year ago — higher than analysts expected.
The increase came as the UK’s largest wealth manager implemented its new charging structure in an attempt to make its fees more transparent for clients.
However, the changes to its fees reduced the maximum amount that its 5,000 or so financial advisers could earn upfront, fuelling concerns that they were attempting to sell more products before the new model came into force at the end of August.
Mark FitzPatrick, chief executive of SJP, said that the jump in customer inflows reflected “both strong demand for financial advice and high levels of client engagement and activity ahead of the implementation of our new simple, comparable charging structure in late August”.
He said the third quarter had brought “unseasonably high levels of client engagement and activity” ahead of the Budget, meaning “flows in the final quarter may therefore be less strong”.
SJP’s funds under management rose to £212bn, up from £184bn a year ago. Shares fell 2.5 per cent in early trading, but the stock is up more than 50 per cent this year.
Schroders, one of Britain’s largest asset managers, also reported a surge in assets under management to a high of £816.7bn, up 5 per cent over the quarter, fuelled by an increase in the value of investments.
Net new business, excluding joint ventures, amounted to £4.9bn in the third quarter, compared with £300mn a year ago.
Chief executive Richard Oldfield said his “refocusing” of the business was progressing, pointing to its exit from sub-scale markets including its operations in Brazil and India.
Schroders also ended its joint venture with Lloyds Banking Group this month, by selling its stake in Schroders Personal Wealth to the bank in return for the lender’s stake in its high net worth business Cazenove.
Shares fell 2.7 per cent, paring gains this year to 14 per cent.
Meanwhile, AJ Bell, one of the UK’s largest “DIY” investment sites for individuals as well as a platform serving financial advisers, also reported a “year of record growth” after surpassing £100bn in assets under administration.
The investment company said customer numbers increased by 102,000 over the year to the end of September, up nearly a fifth.
Chief executive Michael Summersgill warned that “uncertainty around government policy continues to cause disruption”, noting that “speculation over pension taxation ahead of the November Budget, which has developed in the absence of a clear and lasting government commitment to pension tax stability, creates damaging uncertainty for customers and advisers”.
Shares fell 1 per cent, but are up 22 per cent this year.