Investors poured £2.2bn into Quilter in the first quarter of 2025 despite significant market losses at the wealth management firm.
Assets under management ticked up from £119.4bn at the start of the year to £119.6bn by the end of March, thanks to a boom in the firm’s mass market affluent business, it said in a trading statement.
In total, net inflows equalled about seven per cent of the firm’s total assets under management, but this was offset by a fall in the pound and market declines, causing asset growth to be flat across the quarter.
“Market indices weakened during the first quarter, with the impact of this broadly offsetting our net inflow performance,” said Quilter CEO Steven Levin.
“Thus far in the second quarter we have seen significant volatility across all asset classes, as bond and equity markets have reacted to proposed US tariffs.”
As a result of the market crash at the start of April following the introduction of president Donald Trump’s tariffs, Quilter’s most recent estimate of its total assets on 17 April revealed a three per cent fall from the end of March.
“If sustained, [this] would provide a headwind to 2025 revenues and profitability,” said Levin.
The inflows into Quilter during the first quarter were made up almost entirely of strong performance from its affluent arm, which saw a whopping 179 per cent increase in net inflows compared to 2024.
Growth came from both its direct platform business and independent financial adviser channel, with investors adding £697m and £1.6bn respectively during the three months.
In total, net inflows for the affluent arm jumped from £788m in the firm quarter of 2024 to £2.2bn, bringing assets in the arm to £89.5bn.
Meanwhile, Quilter’s high net worth segment had more mixed results, as investors did deposit £133m into its direct channel, but withdrew £14m via its IFA channel.
“The assets we manage are largely long-term focused and, with the majority of our new business arising from asset consolidation, early second quarter indications point to a degree of resilience in flows,” added Levin.
