The results come as 7IM’s multi-year, multi-million-pound investment programme into its proprietary platform and supporting technology is continuing to gather momentum, the firm said in a statement. 2025 upgrades include automated transfers and a next-generation online reporting suite, both of which are already enhancing client experience.

The third quarter also saw gross sales rise 13.26 per cent year-on-year to £1 billion, while assets under management increased 21.8 per cent to £18.98 billion. The firm’s 53.8 per cent advised net-to-gross ratio – a key measure of asset retention – was more than double the 22.02 per cent industry average.

Outflows fell for the second consecutive quarter, down 2.5 per cent, compared with a 12.3 per cent rise in outflows across the wider market. Strong retention reflects sustained advisor demand for 7IM’s Secure Lifetime Income solution amid economic uncertainty, and for its onshore bond proposition supporting IHT planning ahead of forthcoming changes to the tax treatment of inherited pension assets.

Market data reinforces these trends. ABI figures show annuity sales at a 10-year high, up 24 per cent on 2023, while the lang cat’s latest Platform Market Scorecard highlights record onshore bond sales, rising more than 65 per cent year on year.

The 7IM business was founded in 2002; it oversees about £23 billion of assets for more than 2,500 financial advisory firms and 7,000 private wealth clients.

“This year’s exceptional growth reflects the strength of our long-term investment in the platform and the trust our advice partners place in us,” Russell Lancaster, managing director, platform, and intermediary partnerships said. “2025 has been a landmark year, with some of our most significant enhancements already delivering clear benefits – automated transfers alone have reduced processing times by around 25 per cent. Looking ahead to 2026, we have more features, integrations and service improvements on the way, all designed to ensure our platform stands out for both capability and consistency.”

Shift to safety
The result comes amidst a challenging time for parts of the funds market, particularly those involving stocks. For example, last week, funds network Calastone said that investors withdrew a net £188 million from equity funds in December 2025, taking outflows since June 2025 to a net £10.57 billion in the "largest and most prolonged selling spree on record." For the whole year, the outflow was £6.71 billion, "comfortably the worst year in Calastone’s 11-year data history and more than double the previous record of -£3.34 billion set in 2016, the year of the Brexit referendum."

However, other asset classes benefited last year from a shift to safer assets. Mixed-asset funds attracted a net £11.76 billion, falling from a year ago but in line with their 10-year average. Money market funds had a record year, absorbing a net £5.84 billion of new cash. Fixed income funds saw inflows rise by half to £1.51 billion. Each of these three asset classes also saw inflows in December, Calastone said.