AJ Bell PLC (LON:AJB) grew assets under administration 6% in its third quarter to £50.7bn as inflows were lower than this time last year but remained positive.
The investment platform group increased total customer numbers 5% to 224,644 by the end of June, with total AUA breaking through £50bn with a 13% gain over the past year versus a 3.5%% decline in the FTSE All-Share.
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The platform’s AUA was boosted by underlying net inflows of £1.0bn and defined benefit pension transfers of £0.2bn, together with £1.6bn from market movements.
Chief executive Andy Bell said trading remained strong both advised and direct to consumer platforms.
Broker Peel Hunt said the statement highlighted the strength of the platform model, with the net inflows down 20% on last year, which was consistent with the performance of rival IntegraFin Holdings PLC (LON:IHP) in the same period, “but stands out compared to the asset and wealth managers as having been far more robust”.
Analysts said some of the slowdown was the result of weaker DB transfer business, “which should be little surprise given regulatory scrutiny”.
Shares in AJ Bell were up 4% to 444p on Thursday morning.