Wealth manager smashes ‘Roadmap to Growth’ strategy targets with strong finals

Record net inflows have fueled an almost 27% increase in assets under management (AUM)/assets under influence (AUI) at Tatton Asset Management, the Wilmslow-based investment management and IFA support services group.

Unaudited results for the year to March 31, 2024, show net inflows of £2.3bn contributed to a £3.7bn increase in AUM/AUI, up 26.9%, to £17.6bn.

Also, during the year, the business added 106 IFA firm relationships, enjoyed a strong market and investment performance of £1.5bn (2023: a deficit of £0.4bn), and the board said it is confident that the financial results for the year will be in line with its expectations

Net inflows in the second half of financial year 2024 were £1.393bn, representing an increase of 53.1% on the first half net inflows of £0.910bn. This increased the average monthly net inflows from £152m in H1 to an elevated average of £232m per month in H2, with the final quarter’s net inflows being supported by the tax year end.

This year is the culmination of the group’s three-year ‘Roadmap to Growth’ strategy which set an ambitious target of £15bn AUM/AUI by March 31, 2024. Tatton exceeded this target by 17.4% in the year, with AUM/AUI ending the year at £17.604bn (2023: £13.871bn).

The group will announce its new target when it releases the full year results in June.

The strong growth delivered in the year was supported by the number of IFA firms increasing 12.2% to 975 (2023: 869)

Paradigm, the group’s IFA support services business, has delivered a resilient performance in the year. Paradigm Mortgages participated in mortgage completions totaling £13.1bn (2023: £14.5bn), a 9.7% reduction year on year, which was in line with expectations.

Relative to the 29% year on year fall in the gross mortgage market, Tatton believes this result demonstrates the strength and resilience of the business and its continued ability to expand its footprint and grow market share through attracting new partnerships, with Mortgage member firms increasing by 9.4% in the year to 1,916 (2023: 1,751).

Consulting member firms were 424 at the end of the year (2023: 431).

Founder and CEO, Paul Hogarth, said: “I am very pleased with this year’s results, especially when we consider the difficult economic backdrop our industry has faced over the last 12 months.

“We are delighted to have substantially exceeded our three-year ‘Roadmap to Growth’ target of £15bn, with actual AUM/AUI standing at over £17.6bn at the end of the year.

“The growth since we set this target in 2021 has been underpinned by £5.4bn of organic net inflows over the last three years. As a management team, we are excited about the future market opportunity and the continued growth and adoption of MPS as a core investment proposition by the IFA community. We look forward to announcing our new medium-term AUM/AUI target when we release the full year results in June.”

He added: “The group’s business model and strategy continued to prove successful, and we delivered record net inflows of £2.3bn, a 28.4% increase on the prior year and 18.1% of opening AUM.

“We built on the momentum generated in the first half of the year, with net inflows averaging over £230m per month in the second half of the year, so that, most importantly, flows stayed consistently strong throughout the whole year.

“Our excellent trading performance is a testament to the overall quality of our long term track record of consistent investment performance, and market leading customer service and communications, which, when combined with our IFA distribution partnerships, continue to drive the success of the business. We were delighted to have this validated through being recognised in a recent Defaqto DFM survey as the preferred and most recommended DFM MPS provider.

“The Paradigm Mortgage business delivered a robust performance, outperforming the gross mortgage market, and delivered £13.1bn of completions in the year. As with the first half of the year, the mix of completions shifted towards the lower margin products, but we maintain our view that overall, it has been a good and resilient performance in FY24. Paradigm Consulting continues to perform in line with our expectations.”

“We look forward to releasing the full year results in June 2024 and the Board remains confident in the future prospects of the group.”

The group’s audited final results are scheduled to be released on June 18, 2024.