The Elevate platform bought by Aberdeen Standard Investments in 2016 lost £21.6m last year, but the company said it expects the platform to be profitable in 2019.
A spokesperson for Aberdeen Standard said the losses were largely the result of the costs of integrating the platform into the wider business, and a historic cost related to pension liabilities.
The latest accounts show the costs of integration were over £10m, while the pension liability was £12m.
The total pre-tax loss was £27m, but a tax credit reduced the loss to £21.6m.
The spokesperson added: “Since we acquired Elevate the support of its users has exceeded our expectations and we are now on track to be in profit in 2019.
"On acquisition, we committed to ensuring the platform would operate on a sustainable basis, while offering a differentiated proposition to advisers. We have delivered on this; achieving full separation from Axa UK plc earlier this year, while investing in the scalability of the platform.”
The platform had assets under administration of £12.9bn at the end of December 2017, compared with £11.3bn at the end of 2016.
Standard Life said it completed the integration of the platform in April 2018. Standard Life paid £31m for the platform.
David.Thorpe@ft.com
