Investment platform drives AUA to £72.8bn following 30% customer inflow
Manchester investment platform, AJ Bell, boosted total assets under administration (AUA) to £72.8bn after adding 30% more customers in the year to September 30.
In a trading update for the year today, chief executive, Andy Bell, said the group had delivered “another year of strong organic growth”.
Total customer numbers increased to 382,754, with total net inflows in the year up 52% to £6.4bn, compared with £4.2bn the previous year.
Total AUA increased by 29% to close at £72.8bn, up from £56.5bn. In comparison, the FTSE All-Share Index rose by 24% and the MSCI World Index rose by 27% in the year.
AJ Bell’s platform business once again delivered strong organic growth in customers, net inflows and AUA during the year. Total platform customers increased by 86,871 to close at 367,965, up 31% in the year.
Advised customers increased by 18,009 to close at 126,920, up 17% in the year, and D2C customers increased by 68,862 to close at 241,045, up 40% in the year.
Platform net inflows increased by 43% on the prior year to £7.0bn. Advised net inflows of £3.8bn were up 36% on the prior year, and D2C net inflows of £3.2bn were a 52% improvement.
Platform AUA closed at £65.3bn, up 31% in the year.
In terms of investments, assets under management (AUM) increased by 175% to £2.2bn, from £0.8bn in 2020.
Total net inflows in the year were £1.175bn, including the one-off inflow of £253m reported in the third quarter, up 185% on the prior year.
The one-off inflow relates to a short-term investment management agreement ahead of a bulk annuity purchase. This agreement is expected to conclude in the quarter ending December 31, 2021, which will result in a one-off outflow.
Chief executive, Andy Bell, said: “We have delivered another year of strong organic growth with total net inflows up 52%, AUA up 29% and customer numbers up 30%, compared to the previous year.
“Our award winning platform propositions, serving both the advised and D2C markets, enable us to capitalise on strong customer demand for long term investment products, whether that be advised or self managed.
“£3.8bn of platform net inflows were in the advised market where the breadth and value of our proposition enables financial advisers to deliver solutions that meet the differing needs of their clients at a highly competitive price. This represents growth of 36% in net inflows compared to the prior year, with customer numbers up 17%.”
He added: “£3.2bn of platform net inflows were in the direct-to-consumer market where we have seen very strong demand from retail investors throughout the pandemic. Customer growth of 40% in the year helped to drive a 52% increase in net inflows compared to the previous year, with the majority of this being in ISAs and pensions as customers focus on building long term, tax efficient investment portfolios.”
He said that, following the gradual easing of COVID restrictions over the course of the summer, the group has seen retail trading activity return to more normal levels compared with the peaks seen earlier in the year.
“However, we are pleased that our key drivers of long term growth, namely customer numbers and net inflows, have continued strongly. In the final quarter of our financial year, net new platform customers increased by 16% and platform net inflows increased by 78% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2020.
“Demand for our investment solutions has also continued to build across both the advised and direct-to-consumer markets. Our managed portfolio service is growing in popularity with advisers as they recognise our focus on charges, choice and communication and we have recently added the service to four external platforms to further increase its availability.
“In the D2C market, our multi-asset funds continue to prove popular as customers seek low cost investment solutions that are managed for them in line with their risk profile.”
