AJ Bell plc (LON:AJB), one of the UK’s largest investment platforms, has issued a trading update in respect of the three months ended 31 December 2024.
Performance overview
Platform business
| · | Customer numbers increased by 19,000 to close at 561,000, up 16% in the last year and 4% in the quarter |
| o Total advised customers of 174,000, up 8% in the last year and 2% in the quartero Total D2C customers of 387,000, up 20% in the last year and 4% in the quarter | |
| · | Record assets under administration (“AUA”) of £89.5 billion, up 17% in the last year and 3% in the quarter |
| · | A year-on-year increase in gross and net inflows across the platform |
| o Gross inflows in the quarter of £3.6 billion (2023: £2.7 billion)o Net inflows in the quarter of £1.4 billion (2023: £1.3 billion) |
· Favourable market movements of 2% of opening AUA
AJ Bell Investments
| · | Assets under management (“AUM”) of £7.2 billion, up 38% in the last year and 6% in the quarter |
| · | Net inflows in the quarter of £0.4 billion, in line with the prior year (2023: £0.4 billion) |
Michael Summersgill, Chief Executive Officer at AJ Bell, commented:
“I am pleased to report a strong start to the financial year as we continued to attract thousands of new customers and increased levels of assets, resulting in a record 561,000 platform customers and £89.5 billion of platform assets under administration. AJ Bell Investments continues to perform exceptionally well with quarterly net inflows of £0.4 billion resulting in total AUM surpassing £7 billion for the first time.
“During the quarter we continued to see the benefits of our dual-channel model and the high-quality propositions that we offer to both the advised and D2C market segments. Our D2C platform recorded increased net inflows of £1.1 billion, up 57% on the prior year. This strong performance was driven by continued improvements in our brand awareness and our highly competitive pricing, as well as elevated pension contributions in the run up to the October Budget. The strength of our advised platform is reflected in strong gross inflows of £1.7 billion, with net inflows of £0.3 billion having been impacted by elevated levels of pre-Budget pension withdrawals, as well as recent adviser consolidation.
“Ahead of the October Budget, speculation around the tax treatment of pensions caused a short-term behavioural change among retail investors, which normalised quickly once the content of the Budget became known. We believe that pension savers deserve more clarity when it comes to the tax treatment of their long-term retirement plans. As such, we continue to call for Government to commit to stability through a Pension Tax Lock, providing additional clarity around key features of the pension tax system.
“The strong start to the year positions us well as we approach the busy tax year end period. We remain focused on the significant long-term growth opportunity that exists in the platform market. Our dual-channel approach and continued investments into our propositions and brand mean we are well-placed to continue our strong growth.”
| Three months ended31 December 2024 | Advised Platform | D2C Platform | Total Platform | Non-platform | Total |
| Opening customers (k) | 171 | 371 | 542 | 15 | 557 |
| Closing customers (k) | 174 | 387 | 561 | 15 | 576 |
| AUA and AUM (£billion) | |||||
| Opening AUA | 56.1 | 30.4 | 86.5 | 5.7 | 92.2 |
| Inflows(1) | 1.7 | 1.9 | 3.6 | 0.1 | 3.7 |
| Outflows(2) | (1.4) | (0.8) | (2.2) | (0.1) | (2.3) |
| Net inflows | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.4 | – | 1.4 |
| Market and other movements(3) | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 1.7 |
| Closing AUA | 57.2 | 32.3 | 89.5 | 5.8 | 95.3 |
| Closing AUM | 3.7 | 1.9 | 5.6(4) | 1.6(5) | 7.2 |
| Three months ended 31 December 2023 | Advised Platform | D2C Platform | Total Platform | Non-platform | Total |
| Opening customers (k) | 159 | 317 | 476 | 15 | 491 |
| Closing customers (k) | 161 | 323 | 484 | 15 | 499 |
| AUA and AUM (£billion) | |||||
| Opening AUA | 48.2 | 22.7 | 70.9 | 5.2 | 76.1 |
| Inflows(1) | 1.5 | 1.2 | 2.7 | – | 2.7 |
| Outflows(2) | (0.9) | (0.5) | (1.4) | – | (1.4) |
| Net inflows | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.3 | – | 1.3 |
| Market and other movements(3) | 2.2 | 1.8 | 4.0 | 0.2 | 4.2 |
| Closing AUA | 51.0 | 25.2 | 76.2 | 5.4 | 81.6 |
| Closing AUM | 2.8 | 1.4 | 4.2(4) | 1.0(5) | 5.2 |
(1) Transfers-in, subscriptions, contributions and tax relief
(2) Transfers-out, cash withdrawals, benefits and tax payments
(3) Total investment returns and revaluations, net of charges and taxes
(4) Platform AUA which is held in AJ Bell’s Funds or Managed Portfolio Service
(5) Assets which are held in AJ Bell’s Funds or Managed Portfolio Service via third-party platforms
