St. James’s Place shrugs off uncertainty as wealth manager continues to pick up assets

The board of wealth manager St James’s Place has cancelled a £456,700 bonus meant for its former chief executive

Wealth management group St. James’s Place has shrugged off concerns about its growth this morning as it reported a jump in funds under management and positive asset inflows.

In a trading update for the three months to 31 March, the company said net inflows totalled £710m, with gross inflows coming in at just under £4bn for the period. The figures were roughly in line with the numbers reported for the first quarter of 2023.

Thanks to inflows and a positive market performance during the first three months of the year the company ended the first quarter with closing funds under management of £179bn, up from £168.2bn at the end of 2023 and £153.6bn at the end of March 2023.

St. James’s Place said net inflows came in at 1.7 per cent of opening funds under management for the period, and the company recorded a funds under management retention rate of 94.6 per cent on an annualized basis.

Mark FitzPatrick, chief executive officer, said: “I am pleased to report a good first quarter for the year, resulting in client funds under management (FUM) increasing to £179bn. This has primarily been driven through a strong period of investment returns, as our investment proposition continues to deliver for clients. FUM has also benefited from £0.7bn of net inflows, further extending our track record of generating net inflows every quarter.

“We are making good progress with our review of the business, and I look forward to sharing the outcomes alongside our half-year results in the summer. We also continue to move forward with our significant programmes of work to review historic client servicing records and to implement the new charging structure that we announced last October,” he added.

Despite the uncertain outlook for the wealth management industry and the economy, St. James’s Place said it’s on track to hit earnings expectations for the year given the steady level of inflows seen during the first quarter and efforts to reform the business.