St James's Place posts record H1 inflows; sees no Brexit impact

LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - St James's Place on Wednesday posted a forecast-beating rise in first-half funds under management after record net inflows and said it had seen no negative impact on its business from Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

The wealth manager has benefited from strong demand for its face-to-face advice from savers looking to better invest their money amid a number of changes to the pensions and savings system, and said the trend had continued strongly since January.

"Whilst the UK's decision to leave the EU has created a period of economic uncertainty in the UK, the challenges and responsibilities that many people face when considering how to manage their wealth and the ever changing tax considerations, remain," Chief Executive David Bellamy said in a statement.

The company posted net inflows of 3.1 billion pounds, up 15 percent from the previous ytear and beating a company supplied consensus forecast of 2.7 billion pounds.

That helped drive the firm's cash reserves to 94.4 million pounds, comfortably beating consensus estimates of 84.9 million and helping underpin a 15 percent increase in the interim dividend.

Operating profit on an embedded value basis, which gives a net present value for the expected future cashflow of the company, rose just 7 percent to 284 million pounds, however, lagged consensus expectations for 305.7 million pounds.

This was due in part to a large 17 million pound contribution to a government compensation scheme, costs from an ongoing Asia expansion and costs associated with ending exit charges on some products. (Reporting by Simon Jessop, editing by Sinead Cruise)