SJP reaches record £71bn funds under management

St James’s Place has reached a record £71bn ($86bn, €76bn) in funds under management after a bumper year helped by the acquisition of UK wealth manager Rowan Dartington.

International Adviser

|

Total FUM in the nine months to 30 September were 31% higher than the firm’s 2015 figure (£54.5bn) despite the heightened volatility and political uncertainty around Brexit.

Shares in St James’s Place jumped 3.3% to 980p during the opening minutes of trading on Tuesday following the reports of its healthy year-on-year growth in funds under management.

The wealth manager withstood the Brexit headwinds better than peer Hargreaves Lansdown, which returned mixed Q3 results earlier this month.

Within the third quarter, which fell between two major political turning points – the EU referendum result and Prime Minister Theresa May’s first intonations of the direction of Brexit negotiations – the business proved resilient, said chief executive David Bellamy. FUM were boosted by new investments totalling £2.8bn.

Rowan Dartington

SJP’s acquisition of wealth manager Rowan Dartington, completed earlier this year, also added £1.3bn to its total FUM.

“It’s been very much business as usual and we’ve maintained good momentum in the business since the half year,” Bellamy stressed.

During the period, SJP also managed to retain over 95% of its clients and their investments, resulting in net inflows of £1.7bn.

Because of the wealth manager’s strong third quarter performance, Bellamy remarked he was confident that the firm would meet its final quarter objectives and remain on a smooth pathway to achieve its goals beyond 2016.