The long-awaited platform transition at wealth management and financial advice firm Quilter finally has a date.
The company said the initial migration of assets onto the UK platform is planned for the weekend of 22 and 23 February 2020.
Any advisers and customers involved will be notified.
Quilter has also reported improvements in its results for the last quarter of 2019, after a rocky first half where its net flows dropped by 90%.
Assets under management and administration grew by 13% from 31 December 2018, reaching £110.4bn (£143.7bn, €130.5bn) at the end of last year.
The firm said this was supported by positive market movements.
Although the net inflows for Q4 2019 of £500m were lower compared with the same period in 2018 (£600m), the group said Quilter Cheviot continued to generate gross sales momentum despite net outflows of £800m, partly as a result of senior departures earlier in the year.
The international business, however, reported positive growth with gross inflows of £800m compared to £500m in Q4 2018.
Back on its feet
Paul Feeney, chief executive of Quilter, said: “2019 was a good year for market performance but a challenging year for net client flows.
“We were pleased to finish the year in a positive position. Net inflows of £300m for the year represented a sharp turnaround from the net outflow of £200m for the nine months to end-September.”
He continued: “Looking across our businesses, the integration of our advice acquisitions is progressing well and both Lighthouse and Charles Derby, which this week rebranded to Quilter Financial Advisers, are well positioned to contribute to net flows in 2020.
“Quilter Cheviot delivered consistently strong gross sales throughout 2019 reflecting the quality of its franchise supported by the contribution from new hires made to strengthen the business.
“The outflow associated from the investment managers who departed in mid-2018 declined to £300m in the fourth quarter from £600m in the third quarter.
“Our international business, where new business mandates can be sizeable but inherently more irregular, ended the year well with an annual increase of 67% in net client cash flow.”
Platform awaits
Modest flows into its UK platform, however, have been the result of the length of time needed for Quilter’s platform switch project, Feeney added.
“Net flows into the UK platform remain subdued ahead of migrating advisers and customers onto our new platform this year.
“This, in turn, led to more modest flows into Quilter Investors. Stable gross flows in the fourth quarter relative to the prior year demonstrate the strength of our adviser and customer-focussed platform business model.
“More importantly, we are pleased that the initial migration of customers onto our new platform is currently planned for the weekend of 22/23 February 2020.
“Our advisers and clients who are involved in this process have been notified accordingly. Our new UK platform will be transformational for Quilter – it has taken time to get to this point and we are excited about the ability to drive further business growth once we have fully migrated onto the new platform by the end of this summer,” he said.
