Investment firm breaks through £50bn barrier as customer numbers grow

Investment firm AJ Bell now manages more than £50bn worth of funds for its customers.

The Salford based firm issued a trading statement for the third quarter of the year.

The investment management firm said total customer numbers increased 5% in the quarter to 224,644, with total assets under administration breaking through the £50bn mark to stand at £50.7bn.

There was an increase of 6% over the quarter and 13% over the past year.

In comparison, the FTSE All-Share index increased by 2% over the quarter and fell by 3.5% over the year.

AJ Bell’s growth during the period was driven by the platform business:

• Platform customer numbers increased by 9,843 to 210,765, up 5% during the quarter
• Platform AUA increased by 7% over the quarter to £43.4 bn
• Platform AUA was boosted by a combination of underlying net inflows of £1bn.

Andy Bell, chief executive at AJ Bell, said: “Trading in the third quarter of our financial year remained strong across our advised and direct to consumer platform.

“We continue to focus on the needs of advisers and customers, making it as easy as possible for them to invest and this has resulted in assets under administration breaking through the £50 billion mark.

“People need to save more via their pensions and ISAs for the long term and our platform and investment solutions help them do that easily and cost effectively.”