St James’s Place enjoys strong inflows as client confidence improves
Money manager St James’s Place said inflows this year had surged as government spending and the vaccine rollout drove positive investor sentiment.
The FTSE firm said gross inflows for the five months to the end of May 2021 are likely to be around 23 per cent higher than the same period last year.
It comes off the back of improving client confidence paired with a higher level of savings, continuing the momentum seen in the first quarter.
Shares are trading 0.5 per cent higher this morning.
“We are encouraged that the strong new business activity we experienced in March has continued into the second quarter,” the wealth manager said.
Wealth managers have benefited from the market recovery after they suffered record outflows at the peak of the pandemic.
Funds under management jumped to a record £135bn at the end of March 2021, surpassing the previous record of £129bn it posted last year. Net inflows jumped from £2.4bn to £2.9bn.
Last month St James’s Place, which has 22 offices across the UK, said the demand for trusted advice was “stronger than ever”, even as pandemic restrictions and economic uncertainty remain.
The wealth manager has seen higher demand for its services as more investors sought financial and retirement advice through the most recent quarters of the pandemic, a turnaround from panic fund withdrawals at the start of the outbreak this time last year.