Edward West
UK financial group Quilter’s share price fell 6.5% on the JSE yesterday afternoon after it reported flat assets under management and it became the largest advised platform in the UK by the end of the third quarter.
IFA (independent financial adviser) new business flows increased by 20% onto its platform. Third quarter core business net inflows however slumped to £1 million (R23m), compared with net inflows of £324m in the corresponding period of 2022.
The share was traded at R18.06 on the JSE yesterday afternoon.
Assets under Management and Administration (AuMA) of £101.4 billion (R2.3 trillion) on September 30 were essentially unchanged from £101.7bn at the end of June.
“This reflects steady markets, the usual summer seasonal slowdown in activity combined with moderately lower persistency levels in the IFA channel, due to clients drawing down savings to maintain living standards in a higher inflationary environment,” the group’s directors said.
"Our open and unbundled business model positions us well from both a competitive and consumer duty perspective. I look forward to updating the market on the initiatives we are working on to improve platform net flows and the progress we are making on our broader strategic plans at our full-year results in March 2024," CEO Stephen Levin said in a statement.
The Quilter channel reported a 16% increase in year-to-date annualised net inflows as a percentage of opening AuMA in the High Net Worth segment and an 11% increase in the Affluent segment.
Discrete third-quarter gross inflows from the Quilter channel increased 85% year-on-year in the High Net Worth segment, and 14% in the Affluent segment.
Within Affluent, Quilter channel new business gross inflows were in line with the first and second quarter run-rate, with a year-to-date gross new business of £2.7bn, 7% ahead of 2022 levels, and net inflows of £1.3bn modestly (1%) ahead of the comparable period.
“The strength of our platform proposition continues to be demonstrated by increased new business market share, with the Quilter Platform becoming the largest advised platform in the UK at the end of the second quarter,” said Levin.
Gross inflows from the IFA channel onto the platform in the third quarter increased 20% on the comparable period to £1.3bn (Q3 2022: £1.1bn).
The impact of outflows from industry consolidation and higher client draw downs led to a modest outflow in the IFA channel during the quarter.
Within High Net Worth, clients' continued portfolio repositioning led to an outflow in the IFA/directly sourced channel, with this partially offset by net inflows in the Quilter channel.
Third-quarter non-core net outflows of £119m were consistent with the quarterly run-rate in the first half, after adjusting for the one-off fund closures of £200m in the second quarter.
Quilter channel annualised gross sales per Quilter Adviser of £2.7m for the third quarter increased 23% on the prior year period.
"I am pleased to have delivered steady AuMA in our seasonally slowest quarter in what remains a challenging market for new business. The Quilterchannel continues to drive strong net flows in both our Affluent and High Net Worth segments,“ said Levin.
Quilter channel gross sales per Quilter Adviser remained at robust levels and were over 20% higher than that achieved in the prior year’s comparative period.
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