St James’s Place toasts jump in new business

Wealth manager St James’s Place has unveiled a better-than-expected increase in new business sales.

The firm, which is partly-owned by Lloyds Banking Group, posted new business of £199.2 million for the three months to 31 March, up 31 per cent on the same period last year and ahead of City expectations of £184.8m.

Investec analyst Kevin Ryan said: “A key element of the fundamental attractiveness of St James’s Place, we believe, is the unique, self-employed sales force known as ‘partners’.

“We believe this will become an increasingly valuable resource as we expect IFA distribution for other UK life companies to become less effective in the post-RDR environment.”

Net inflows of £947m helped lift funds under management to £39 billion, up 26 per cent compared with a year ago.

Chief executive David Bellamy said: “These excellent results were driven by a number of factors including improved investor sentiment, the sustained low interest rate environment, the breadth and quality of our investment proposition, high levels of client satisfaction and the growth in adviser numbers.”