Asia fund flows boost SJP results

St James’s Place Asia boosted gross new funds by 51% in the first six months of 2018, helping to push group gross inflows to £7.9bn ($10.4bn, €8.9bn), an increase of 15% compared with the first half of 2017.

SJP launches discretionary wealth management service in Asia

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The 51% increase was described by SJP as “ahead of plan” in its six-month results statement, which was released on Wednesday.

Net inflows in Asia rose 47% during the period, contributing to an increase of 21% across the group.

Funds under management (FUM) in Asia rose by 32% and now exceed £550m.

SJP Group reported FUM of £96.6bn, an uptick of 16% from £83bn during the same six-month period in 2017.

The wealth management firm does not segment its results geographically, so a further breakdown by region is not available.

Long-term plan

Andrew Croft, chief executive of St James’s Place, said: “Our investment in Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai is long-term in nature and we now have 122 advisers on board and a fully-licensed and operational life company in Hong Kong to complement our branch in Singapore.”

Globally, SJP has 3,810 advisers.

Rowan Dartington

The firm’s discretionary fund manager (DFM) Rowan Dartington “continues to build scale”, SJP said.

FUM has almost doubled to £2.31bn since it was acquired in 2016.

The DFM business experienced gross inflows of £490m and outflows of £100m during the first six months of 2018.

Currently available in the UK and Hong Kong, SJP has plans to expand it to Singapore and Shanghai in future.

SJP Academy

The wealth management company said it is continuing to invest in its academy.

SJP believes the academy will play “an important and growing role in developing our next generation of financial advisers, thereby supporting partner succession and aiding the retention of long-term client relationships, as well as building intergenerational relationships”.

Dividend boost

The company increased its interim dividend by 20% on the back of its “strong balance sheet and the knowledge of a growing income from our existing business”.