Charles StanleyJul 9 2020

Charles Stanley advice revenues jump 35%

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Charles Stanley advice revenues jump 35%

Revenues in the financial planning arm of Charles Stanley have jumped by more than a third as the wealth manager begins to rebuild its funds in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. 

In a trading update to the market today (July 9) the company announced it had received £2.3m in fees from its financial planning division in the three months to June, a 35.3 per cent jump up from £1.7m in the same quarter last year. 

Charles Stanley said the boost in advice revenues reflected investment made in that division in recent years. 

It comes as funds under management at the wealth manager began to recover in the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis, having taken a £4bn hit driven by the fallout and its impact on global markets in the first three months of 2020.

In today's update the company reported funds under management had grown by more than £2bn to £22.6bn at the end of June, up by 12 per cent from £20.2bn at the end of March and at the height of the crisis. 

Paul Abberley, chief executive at Charles Stanley, said: "Our strong capital position has enabled us to take a measured response to the Covid-19 crisis and we have been able to ensure that our clients have continued to receive very high service levels.

"The crisis has changed our office working practices and client interaction, accelerating the need for standardisation and digitisation of more processes.

"As we continue the transformation programme for Charles Stanley, these will be core areas of focus for us throughout the rest of the financial year."

In its annual results published in May the wealth manager reported a 45 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £19.3m, despite the impact on the coronavirus fallout on its funds under management. 

Charles Stanley attributed its increased profits to a repricing exercise completed by the company a year ago, which saw the business increase its rates for investment management services in line with the rest of the market. 

rachel.mortimer@ft.com

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