St James Place PLC (LON:STJ), the under-fire wealth manager, said assets under management rose to another record in its latest quarter but inflows slowed.
Total assets managed at the end of September had risen to £118.7bn, said the FTSE100 group, compared to £112.8bn at the end of June.
Net inflows during the quarter were £1.44bn, which chief executive Andrew Croft said were helped by lower outflows than seen in the comparable quarter a year ago due to good client retention.
“We are therefore able to report another quarter of robust performance with gross inflows of over £3bn, bringing the year-to-date position to £10.3bn,” he added.
St James Place yesterday received an open letter from activist investor Primestone, which has taken a 1.2% stake, calling for better returns to shareholders.
“The SJP business model has yielded best-in-class growth and retention of advisers, clients and assets.
“Unfortunately, however, it has failed to deliver meaningful value for shareholders over the last five years. This is especially disappointing given that client assets have doubled over this time”, PrimeStone said.
St James Place has been criticised previously for its cost structure and earlier this year Croft instigated an overhaul of its pay and remuneration policies after admitting reports of bonuses such as gold cufflinks and luxury cruises for advisers had affected teh business.
In its response to Primestone, St James said: “SJP proactively engages with shareholders with regards to Group strategy and structure and looks forward to commencing a dialogue with PrimeStone in regard to the views outlined in its letter.”