26th Apr 2016 06:44
LONDON (Alliance News) - St James's Place, the FTSE 100 wealth manager, on Tuesday shrugged off stock market volatility in the opening months of 2016 to report higher funds under management in the first quarter.
Net inflows of client funds amounted to GBP1.36 billion in the three months ended March 31, versus GBP1.32 billion the corresponding quarter a year earlier.
That helped to boost funds under management to GBP62.02 billion at the end of March, from GBP58.61 billion at the start of the quarter and GBP55.81 billion a year earlier. St James's Place had a GBP0.79 billion net investment return in the first quarter, versus GBP2.48 billion the corresponding quarter a year earlier.
The opening quarter of 2016 was market by volatility due to fears about global growth prospects, China's economic growth in particular, and falling oil prices in January and February. Those fears became less of an issue in the later stages of the quarter, thanks to more stimulus from the European Central Bank in March and "dovish noises" from US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
"Against a backdrop of continued uncertainty across global stock markets, our business is performing strongly," Chief Executive David Bellamy said in a statement.
Bellamy welcomed initiatives introduced by UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in his Budget in March. The government's decision to encourage individuals to take more responsibility for their financial affairs has been a boost to St James's Place, whose partners offer face-to-face wealth management advice.
"The fact that the Chancellor avoided further changes to pension tax relief and chose to give further encouragement to individual savings through a higher limit for ISAs in 2017, the introduction of a lifetime ISA and reduced capital gains tax, bodes well for the future," Bellamy said.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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