CompaniesJul 12 2016

Alliance Trust Savings sees platform assets soar

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Alliance Trust Savings sees platform assets soar

Alliance Trust Savings has seen a 40 per cent jump in its assets under administration in just six months after customers ploughed money into the platform.

According to an update published yesterday (11 July), the platform hit the £12bn mark in June this year, a significant increase on the £8bn posted in January.

The advised arm of the business has seen a £1.1bn surge in inflows over the period after it embarked on a technology upgrade, added discretionary fund management services and a number of model portfolios.

Responding to these adviser inflows, Alliance Trust Savings appointed Rob McDonnell as head of strategic partnerships and Ron Gillies as business development manager for its intermediary sales team.

Early last month, the platform – which is set to become a standalone business – named former Friends Life chief financial officer Tim Tookey as its chairman, after it was granted its own independent board of directors.

His appointment follows the decision for the platform to split from parent company Alliance Trust.

Patrick Mill, chief executive of Alliance Trust Savings, said the growth of the company's advised assets under management shows intermediaries are “increasingly convinced” by the proposition.

However, he said this milestone is just one step in his “ambitious” growth plan, adding the company is looking to deliver a profit by the end of the year and expand, either organically or through acquisitions.

Mr Mill also said the platform’s fixed fee model – as opposed to a percentage fee model – gives it more certainty over revenue, particularly in volatile markets, making the business “sustainable and scalable”.

The company has also added over 35,000 new customers to the platform over the past year, reaching 100,000.

According to a report from Fundscape, it was the fastest growing platform in the first quarter of 2016.

katherine.denham@ft.com