AJ Bell's first trading update since it floated revealed adverse market conditions caused its assets under administration to fall by 4 per cent in the three months to the end of December 2018.
Tthis morning (23 January) the company revealed its assets had fallen to £44.2bn, despite total net inflows of £800m over the three month period.
While the company saw total net inflows, negative market movements wiped £2.7bn from AJ Bell's total assets under administration.
The total number of customers on the platform rose by 7,285, to 190,498.
Andy Bell, the company's founder and chief executive, said: "Trading in the first quarter of our financial year continued in line with the growth story we outlined ahead of our IPO and remains on track.
"We continued to attract new customers and inflows to the platform in the face of volatile investment markets, which demonstrates the strength and resilience of our business model as we approach our busiest period of the year."
He added that inflows due to defined benefit transfers had fallen from their peak in 2017, a decline Mr Bell predicted would continue.
AJ Bell floated on the stock exchange on December 7 with a share price of £1.60, at close of business yesterday (23 January) the shares were £2.85, valuing the company at £1.1bn.
david.thorpe@ft.com
