Hargreaves Lansdown and St James’s Place are benefiting from the ISA season as assets grow
- Hargreaves announced that assets under management increased by £7.5 billion to a record £149.7 billion
- SJP’s fund volume grew by around £10.8 billion to £179 billion over the same period
Hargreaves Lansdown and St James’s Place saw strong inflows in the first quarter of 2024, strengthening the platforms’ assets under management despite an uncertain economic backdrop.
HL’s assets under management rose by £7.5 billion to a record £149.7 billion between January and the end of March, while SJP funds grew by around £10.8 billion to £179 billion over the same period.
Higher asset volumes meant that HL enjoyed higher trading volumes and platform revenues offset lower net interest margin profits and cash balances, and increased total revenue by around 6 percent year-on-year to £199.7 million.
Growth: Hargreaves Lansdown announced that assets under management increased by £7.5 billion between January and the end of March to a record £149.7 billion
HL’s recorded £1.6 billion of new business during the quarter, as well as 34,000 additional customers attracted to the group’s self-invested personal pensions, ISAs and active savings accounts.
Dan Olley, CEO of Hargreaves Lansdown, said a record number of customers have contributed to their pensions in the recent period, with 270,000 Britons now holding £10 billion in active savings accounts with the company.
At the end of January, Hargreaves launched a multi-bank cash ISA that allows customers to spread their cash ISA across multiple banks and across easy-to-access, limited-access and fixed-term accounts.
The FTSE 250 company’s perceived momentum continued into April as customers took advantage of the opportunity to invest at the start of the new tax year.
Olley added: ‘We continue to make good progress on our priorities for the year: improving our customer proposition, controlling our costs and increasing our execution pace so we can take advantage of the significant growth opportunities ahead .’
Concerns: SJP’s latest trading update comes amid an investigation by the blue-chip firm, Britain’s largest asset manager, into historical client management records
SJP assets grow, but outflows remain ‘elevated’
SJP’s first quarter was supported by stronger investment returns and net inflows of approximately £710 million.
However, the group said gross outflows remained at “elevated levels” as cost-of-living pressures led to customers withdrawing money to meet “ongoing financial needs.”
SJP’s latest trading update comes amid an investigation by the blue-chip firm, Britain’s largest asset manager, into historical client management records.
It has already set aside £426 million in possible refunds for customers who paid for annual reviews they never received.
SJP CEO Mark FitzPatrick said the company is “making good progress” on the review, which it plans to publish alongside its half-year results this summer.
He added: “While the outlook for the macroeconomic environment remains uncertain, our business is fundamentally in good shape. We continue to grow our client base, increase the number of advisors, increase assets under management and deliver great results to our clients.”
Hargreaves Lansdown Shares rose 5.4 percent to 845.8p on Tuesday morning St James’s Place shares were 1.8 percent lower at 436.8p.