20th Oct 2022 15:00
(Alliance News) - AJ Bell PLC on Thursday said net inflows were offset by negative market movements to reduce assets on its platform in the recent financial year, but its number of customers continued to grow.
The Manchester-based provider of investment services and platforms reported assets under administration at September 30 fell 4.9% to GBP69.2 billion from GBP72.8 billion a year before.
Gross inflows to its platform business in the financial year that ended September 30 decreased by 7.3% to GBP10.1 billion from GBP10.9 billion in financial 2021, though remained well above the GBP7.4 billion seen in financial 2020. Platform net inflows slowed by 17% to GBP5.8 billion from GBP7.0 billion a year ago but beat the GBP4.9 billion received in financial 2020.
Platform assets shrank by 2% to GBP64.1 billion from GBP65.3 billion as net inflows were offset by an "adverse" market movement of 11%, AJ Bell said.
More positively, the number of customers rose by 16% to 425,652 at year-end from 367,965 a year before.
In the AJ Bell Investments division, assets under management rose 27% in the recent year to GBP2.8 billion from GBP2.2 billion. Underlying net inflows grew 14% from a year ago to GBP1.05 billion from GBP922 million.
The company noted that all of its multi-asset funds outperformed their sector benchmark.
"Despite the challenging economic backdrop, our business model continues to perform exceptionally well. We have a talented and experienced management team in place that is focused on achieving our growth ambitions in the investment platform market. Together we are extremely excited about the long-term prospects for AJ Bell," said Chief Executive Officer Michael Summersgill.
AJ Bell shares were 1.4% lower at 292.80 pence each in London on Thursday afternoon.
By Tom Budszus; [email protected]
Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
AJ Bell