Gross sales in international were 10% higher for the quarter at £469m, due mainly to good performances in Asia and Latin America.
Old Mutual International’s net client cash (NCCF) flow was £128m, up 44% on the same period in 2014 when it posted a NCCF of £89m.
“Our international business has had a strong first quarter which has been driven by growth in our banking distribution and increased penetration of the high net worth market,” said Marcel Bradshaw, sales director at Old Mutual International.
Overall Old Mutual Wealth also reported a solid start to the year. Gross sales were £4.6bn, up 16% on the first quarter of 2014, boosted by the first time inclusion of sales from asset manager Quilter Cheviot, and the positive impact of flows from its adviser network Intrinsic.
Platform sales were up 15% to £1.45bn, with strong pension and ISA sales over the tax year end. During the quarter, over 10% of platform sales came via the Intrinsic network.
Demand for pension and annuity advice helped sales at Intrinsic climb 23% compared to Q1 2014 – overall, total sales at Intrinsic were up 65% in Q1 2015.
Old Mutual Wealth chief executive Paul Feeney hailed the UK pension freedoms which came into effect on 6 April this year as a “shot of adrenaline” to financial services.
“Even before [the pension reforms] were introduced we saw increased demand for financial advice, flexible pension products and packaged investment solutions as people got ready for the changes,” Feeney said.
“One thing that is very clear is that we will continue to see strong demand for financial advice this year as people embrace new and more flexible ways of funding the later parts of their lives.”
