St James Place PLC (LON:STJ) saw inflows of new money drop as criticism of its advisers fees took its toll on customers signing up.
The wealth manager made plenty of headlines during the year for its generous incentives to sales staff, something that chief executive Andrew Croft admitted in January had affected the number of new customers.
Croft, who had originally defended perks such as luxury cruises as legitimate business meetings, instigated an overhaul of its pay and remuneration policies earlier this month.
Gross inflows fell to £15.1bn from £15.7bn in 2019, with total new inflows 13% lower at £9bn, though total funds under management rose by 22% to £117bn.
Political uncertainty in the UK and elsewhere, the trade discussions between the US and China and economic problems generally had also affected the performance said Croft.
Profits for the year fell to £187mln (£212mln) and to £952mln from £1bn on an embedded value basis that includes the future cashflow from life policies outstanding.
The dividend for the year rose to 3% to 49.71p, which reflects the group’s optimism about the current year, Croft added.