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Investing.com -- Shares of AJ Bell (LSE:AJB) edged up 1% as the investment platform reported strong direct-to-consumer (D2C) growth, outpacing market expectations.
The company announced net flows of £1.9 billion, a 19% increase year on year (YoY), and 8% higher than the Visible Alpha consensus. This performance was primarily driven by a significant uptick in the D2C platform, which saw net flows surge 40% YoY, marking an impressive 22% beat on consensus estimates.
The closing assets under administration (AUA) stood at £90.4 billion, marking a 13% rise YoY, despite a slight 1.1% headwind from market movements in the quarter. The D2C platform’s organic growth rate reached 17.3% annually, with gross inflows climbing 13% compared to the previous quarter while maintaining steady outflows.
Although the adviser platform experienced a 17% drop in net flows YoY, it still showed a robust 67% recovery from the previous quarter, which had been impacted by budget concerns.
AJ Bell’s managed investment propositions also demonstrated robust demand, with the adviser platform’s managed portfolio service (MPS) growing to £3.8 billion, up 19% YoY. The broader investments offering maintained stable net flows and saw closing AUM jump 29% YoY to £7.5 billion. Additionally, the platform’s customer base expanded to 593k, an 18% increase YoY, significantly exceeding consensus forecasts by 6%, with D2C customer growth as the main driver.
Looking ahead, AJ Bell’s CEO highlighted a strong start to the third quarter for the D2C platform, with heightened trading activity amidst macroeconomic uncertainty, leading to net investments of over £300 million.
RBC analysts commented on the outlook, stating, "Encouragingly, the CEO statement references a strong start to 3Q on the D2C platform, with market uncertainty driving increased trading activity, which should reassure investors that AJB’s diversified model is working well in the current environment."
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