Assets across all channels improved for every platform during Q4 2023, the first time this has happened since Q4 2021, according to the latest research published by the lang cat today. It says that growth to the tune of around £30bn in advised platforms, was driven by market optimism as interest rates looked to have peaked and inflation came down.
On the down side, outflows still hammered net sales which slumped to their lowest total of just £1.17bn. Out of 21 advised platforms, 11 recorded negative net sales. The 11 platforms represent £279.77bn of advised assets – 49% of total advised platform AUM.
Things were relatively good for vertically integrated models, as True Potential once again topped the advised net sales table with £0.77bn for Q4 2023. It’s been top for nine out of 12 of the last 12 quarters, and in the top three each time.
Quilter extended its lead over abrdn as the largest advised platform by around £3bn to total £73.85bn in advised AUM. Quilter once again brought in the most gross sales and is the only platform to have crossed the £2bn+ quarterly sales milestone since Q1 2022.
In Q4 advised outflows were £14.89bn, up from £13.93 in Q3 and a total of £53.5bn for 2023, up over a third on 2022 (£39.01bn).
Rich Mayor (pictured), senior analyst at the lang cat, said: “The growth we’ve seen in platform assets provides some welcome respite for platforms following a couple of years of tumult, but the path ahead is still fraught with headwinds. We’re not expecting outflows to slow dramatically over the coming months, even with inflation falling to its lowest levels for some time, and interest rates possibly following suit. We’ve more uncertainty ahead in the form general elections and increased regulator activity. We expect to see growth in AUM in 2024 to be mostly dictated by markets and for net sales to remain at a lower level.
“That Quilter and True Potential top leader boards for gross and net sales yet again shows a success story for vertical integrators while ‘pure’ IFA platforms have found it tough.”
