St James’s Place wins new business despite turbulence
ASSET manager St James’s Place booked a 13 per cent rise in new business to £153.9m in its fiscal third quarter to the end of September, beating analyst expectations despite turbulent markets.
Net inflows rose by £100m to £800m year on year while funds under management dropped eight per cent over the quarter to £26.7bn, in line with consensus estimates, the company said in a trading update yesterday.
Total manufactured business, which represents 90 per cent of business at St James’s Place, was also up 13 per cent to £138.5m, the firm said in its quarterly update.
“Market uncertainty has affected timing of clients’ investment decisions; we are not immune from that,” said chief executive David Bellamy.
“Nevertheless, the breadth of our investment proposition, together with the strength of our distribution, continues to give us competitive advantage.”
While noting some nervousness among its investors in the face of escalating economic concern and the unresolved Eurozone debt crisis, St James’s said it continued to retain 95 per cent of its client’s cash. It said its capital levels had not altered much in the quarter.