AJ Bell PLC (LSE:AJB) shares rose 3.5% to 463.8p after the investment platform enjoyed heightened levels of customer activity during the past quarter, driven by the Autumn Budget.
The FTSE 250 group attracted 29,000 new platform customers, with a 5% quarter-on-quarter increase in platform customer numbers to 673,000, up 20% year-on-year.
Platform assets under administration reached a record £108.0 billion, up 21% year-on-year and 5% on the prior quarter.
Platform gross inflows reached a record £4.6 billion, with net inflows of £1.5 billion, while AJ Bell Investments AUM rose to £9.5 billion, up 32% year-on-year.
CEO Michael Summersgill called it a "strong start" to the group's financial year, with record levels of gross inflows onto both the advised and direct-to-consumer platforms.
The company reported £500 million of additional pension withdrawals compared with a year ago.
Summersgill said: "Persistent uncertainty in the lead‑up to the last two Budgets has become an unwelcome feature of the market, prompting higher levels of assets moving out of pensions and risk‑based investments."
Analysts at Panmure Liberum said the heightened levels of activity was "consistent with most in the sector" in the quarter, but platform net flows were "slightly below our estimate", with the difference being lower net flows into the adviser segment.
"With the shares down almost 20% since the beginning of December, driven largely by the company’s guidance for higher marketing and technology costs, the PER is now more akin to peers at 17x for CY/26E. Near-term profit growth is expected to be much lower, however, hence we retain our preference for others in the sector, most notably St James’s Place, where the prospects for near term profit growth and/or our confidence in delivery is much greater."