UK-listed Charles Stanley said client funds stood at £18.5 billion ($29.6 billion) at end-September from £17.7 billion at 31 March and £15.6 billion a year earlier – increases of 4.5 per cent and 18.6 per cent respectively.

UK-listed brokerage and wealth manager Charles Stanley said client funds stood at £18.5 billion ($29.6 billion) at end-September from £17.7 billion at 31 March and £15.6 billion a year earlier – increases of 4.5 per cent and 18.6 per cent respectively.

The growth was reflected in a 17.2 per cent rise in revenue for the half-year to £70.0 million from £59.7 million and a 42.9 per cent increase in underlying profit before tax to £8.0 million in the half-year to 30 September compared with £5.6 million for the equivalent period last year, Charles Stanley said in a statement today.

Within clients’ funds, managed funds rose by 4.3 per cent since March 2013 – with funds under discretionary management alone rising by 7.8 per cent over that period.  Market movements since 31 March 2013 accounted for a 0.2 per cent decrease in the value of clients’ funds with the balance of the net movement in total funds due to a net inflow of funds from clients – equivalent to an annualised growth rate of 9.8 per cent.

The firm said that since the introduction of the Retail Distribution Review regulatory reform programme in the UK, and other changes, “we have undertaken a significant re-modelling of our pricing structure, which will begin to take effect from the close of this half-year”.

“One of the drivers of this has been the continuing shift in the investment world away from advisory services and towards, at one end of the spectrum, discretionary fund management, and at the other, non-advised dealing–only services. This trend has been under way for several years and has been the subject of my comments to shareholders in the past. We think this trend is accelerating, but Charles Stanley remains committed to providing its clients with an advisory service too,” it added.