Advised platforms’ assets fell collectively by £15.6bn in the first three months of this year, with just one platform - True Potential - recording asset growth.
Starting with £581.3bn at the beginning of the year, advised platforms ended March with a notably lesser £565.7bn.
Putin’s war on Ukraine, rampant inflation and the cost-of-living crisis have all stymied progress, according to Fundscape’s latest platform report.
This dip in markets, sentiment and disposable income isn’t going to be an easy one to bounce back from.Fundscape CEO, Bella Caridade-FerreiraGross and net sales on advised platforms came to £20.2bn and £9.5bn — only slightly higher than the previous quarter’s and down on this period last year by 7 per cent and 14.4 per cent respectively.
Only two platforms bucked this trend, according to the report. Quilter posted its best quarterly gross sales ever at £2.34bn and its best net sales in four years at £1bn.
Meanwhile, Transact had its second-best quarter on record for both gross and net sales, with £2.1bn and £1.39bn respectively.
“This dip in markets, sentiment and disposable income isn’t going to be an easy one to bounce back from,” said Fundscape chief executive, Bella Caridade-Ferreira.
“The outlook for the rest of the year is more of the same. It will be different from 2020 when people stored cash during the pandemic and then invested it in 2021.
“Today there are people spending money to cover bills rather than investing, so there won’t be a huge wall of cash waiting to be invested when the outlook eventually improves.”
Transact’s owner recorded a 4 per cent dip in net inflows in the first three months of 2022, falling to £1.395bn from £1.467bn in the same quarter of 2021.
Overall, the platform’s funds under direction were down £1bn from the £54.54bn it recorded at the end of December 2021.
Integrafin’s chief executive, Alex Scott, said in April the £1bn dip was the result of “unexpected, and continuing, geo-political events impacting stock markets”.
He added: “This has a corresponding impact on our revenue.”
Similarly, AJ Bell’s advised assets dipped over the quarter by £1bn, from £47.5bn to £46.5bn.
The platform’s boss Andy Bell said market movements had caused an overall shift of 4 per cent in assets, mimicking the movement Transact recorded in net flows.
ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com
