29th Jan 2025 10:22
(Alliance News) - AJ Bell PLC on Wednesday said it has been a "strong start" to the year during its first quarter, as it hits a "record" high in Platform business assets.
The Manchester, England-based retail investment platform said assets under administration for its Platform business reached a record level of GBP89.5 billion at the end of the three months to December 31.
This was up 16% on-year from GBP76.2 billion, and was 3.4% higher than the GBP86.5 billion reported at the beginning of the quarter.
Assets under management for AJ Bell's Investments arm climbed 32% on-year to GBP7.2 billion in the first quarter from GBP5.2 billion.
"During the quarter we continued to see the benefits of our dual-channel model and the high-quality propositions that we offer to both the advised and [direct-to-consumer] market segments," said Chief Executive Officer Michael Summersgill.
Total customers increased 14% to 576,000 at December 31, from 499,000 at the same time last year.
CEO Summersgill added: "Ahead of the October budget, speculation around the tax treatment of pensions caused a short-term behavioural change among retail investors, which normalised quickly once the content of the budget became known. We believe that pension savers deserve more clarity when it comes to the tax treatment of their long-term retirement plans. As such, we continue to call for government to commit to stability through a pension tax lock, providing additional clarity around key features of the pension tax system.
"The strong start to the year positions us well as we approach the busy tax year end period. We remain focused on the significant long-term growth opportunity that exists in the platform market. Our dual-channel approach and continued investments into our propositions and brand mean we are well-placed to continue our strong growth."
Shares in AJ Bell were down 2.1% at 438.50 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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