PlatformsNov 4 2015

Old Mutual Wealth flows jump 45% in record quarter

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Old Mutual Wealth flows jump 45% in record quarter

Gross sales at Old Mutual Wealth (OMW) hit record levels in the third quarter as Intrinsic, Quilter Cheviot and the business’ asset management arm all reported healthy levels of business.

The firm said gross sales for its wealth division stood at a record £5.5bn in the third quarter of 2015, a rise of 45 per cent, with net flows standing at £2.3bn - equivalent to net flows for the first and second quarters combined.

Funds under management dipped from £101bn to £98.7bn over the period, however, as “adverse market movements seen over August and September” counteracted inflows.

Net flows for the OMW platform stood at £800m for the quarter, up 60 per cent year on year, with almost £200m of this figure coming via adviser network Intrinsic.

Discretionary business Quilter Cheviot also contributed strongly with an “excellent” £400m in net flows, OMW said.

Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI), the company’s asset management arm, saw net inflows of £1bn, driven by products including Ian Heslop’s Global Equity Absolute Return fund, Richard Buxton’s UK Alpha fund and Richard Watts’ UK Mid Cap portfolio.

Gross platform flows into OMGI ticked up from £500m to £600m year on year. Net figures were not disclosed.

Roughly 40 per cent of OMW’s total funds under management are now managed in-house by Quilter and OMGI, the business added.

The introduction of pension freedoms legislation in the UK, meanwhile, saw pension sales rise 71 per cent year on year.

Old Mutual group finance director Ingrid Johnson said the firm had “benefited from its integrated strategy of owning distribution, an investment platform, discretionary fund and asset management as well as the recent changes to the UK pension regime.”

Total gross sales across Old Mutual as a whole rose 31 per cent to £8.1bn, as OMW more than offset a £1.6bn outflow from US arm Old Mutual Asset Management.