Wealth manager Quilter has reported a fall in assets under management and net inflows in its fourth quarter, but bosses said the firm ended the year on “a solid note.”
Average assets under management were £99.6bn, down from £110bn in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Net inflows of £159m for the quarter were well down on the £950m recorded in the same period in 2021, which Quilter blamed on, “heightened adviser consolidation across the market.”
Steven Levin, chief executive at Quilter, said: “Although net flows for 2022 were below the level we want to achieve, we finished the year on a solid note despite the usual seasonal slowdown towards the end of the quarter.”
He said he was pleased with the performance from the firm’s high net worth segment, “which has continued to deliver a robust performance, with good flows from the Quilter channel offsetting a slowdown in IFA flows.”
He said the Quilter channel continued to deliver consistent flows to its platform, “and has maintained steady productivity throughout the year.”
The level of gross new IFA flows onto Quilter’s platform remains good relative to peers given the market context and overall customer drawdowns remain in-line with historical trends, he said.
Mr Levin said: “We continued to grow the base of IFAs using our market-leading platform in the quarter and expect incremental flows from this source to build over time.”
Assets under management at the end of December 2022 were £99.6bn, an increase of 3% from 30 September 2022. That reflected a modest pick-up in equity markets and slightly lower bond yields in the final quarter, the company said.
The net inflows for the fourth quarter of £159m compared to £236m in the third quarter, “reflected the normal seasonality in the business,” it said.
The Quilter channel posted quarterly gross platform flows of £594m, down from £691m over the same period in 2021.
Total Quilter channel quarterly net inflows were £513m, down from £584m in 2021 “with the decrease reflecting lower levels of new business,” it said.
The company’s high net worth segment posted net flows for the quarter of £158m down from 2021’s £282m.
in early January the firm refinanced its existing £200m subordinated bond, due to be called in February 2023, through an issue of £200m of 8⅝% fixed rate reset subordinated notes, which will fall due April 2033.
