Financial Results

Old Mutual Wealth Reports Strong Q1 Results; Says UK Pension Reforms Boosting Advice Demand

Tom Burroughes Group Editor London 15 May 2015

Old Mutual Wealth Reports Strong Q1 Results; Says UK Pension Reforms Boosting Advice Demand

Old Mutual Wealth reported a solid set of Q1 results for 2015, saying recent UK pension reforms - giving people more freedom over their portfolios at a certain age - have buoyed financial advice demand.

Old Mutual Wealth, the UK firm that is part of the listed firm Old Mutual, said recent new UK freedoms in how people can manage pension assets have helped drive up demand for financial advice, adding to its performance in the first three months of 2015.

The firm said gross sales increased by 16 per cent to £4.6 billion in the first quarter from the same period last year. Pension sales were “particularly strong”, it said. Net client cash flow during the quarter was £1.0 billion, falling 9 per cent from a year earlier. When the planned loss of a lower-margin institutional mandate is taken into account, underlying performance is 8 per cent up on a year ago.

Funds under management stood at £102.3 billion at the end of the quarter, boosted by the acquisition of Quilter Cheviot, which was completed during the period and added £17.5 billion to the total figure. Excluding acquisitions and disposals, funds under management increased 5 per cent from the year-end due to positive net client cash flow and rising markets.

Demand for financial advice increased “significantly due to the incoming pension reforms”, Old Mutual Wealth said. Pension and annuity sales at Intrinsic rose by 23 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2014. 
 

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