Quilter claws its way back to net inflows but re-platforming nerves hit
Wealth manager Quilter said it returned to net inflows by the end of 2019, reversing three consecutive quarters of outflows, but overall flows still lagged behind the previous year.
Quilter, which was spun out from Old Mutual in June 2018, said flows remained “subdued” in the fourth quarter of 2019 amid adviser nerves about the long-awaited re-platforming of its Old Mutual adviser platform.
In a trading update this morning, Quilter confirmed that the initial re-platforming would take place over the weekend of 22 and 23 February.
The company confirmed the imminent switchover had hampered net client cash inflows, which were £500m for the fourth quarter and a total of £0.3bn for the year, coming after the £200m outflows reported in the nine months to September.
These figures exclude Quilter Life Assurance, which the company agreed to sell to Reassure for £425m in August.
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Quilter’s total assets under management and administration hit £110.4bn at the end of 2019, up 13 per cent on the previous year, with growth boosted by positive market movements.
“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,” said chief executive Paul Feeney.
“Net flows into Wealth Solutions remain subdued ahead of migrating advisers and customers onto our new UK platform this year. This, in turn, led to more modest flows into Quilter Investors.”
“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,” Feeney added.
Quilter shares were trading as much as 5.08 per cent up by late morning.