St James’s Place ends year with 38% sales rise

28 January 2010

St James’s Place has revealed a 38 per cent jump in its fourthquarter new business for 2009. Sales reached £133.2m in the final quarter of last year, up from £96.4m for the final quarter of 2008.

The firm, which is 60 per cent owned by Lloyds Banking Group, also saw total single investments jump by 50 per cent to £1.08bn, up from £720m 12 months earlier.

Manufactured new business rose by 43 per cent in the final quarter, standing at £122.7m from £85.6m in 2008. Funds under management rose £1.1bn in the final quarter to £21.4bn. Net inflows of funds under management were £700m, up from £400m in 2008.

Unit trust sales stood at £282.7m in the fourth quarter, up by 112 per cent from £133.6m in 2008.

The company saw a 9 per cent increase in partnership numbers to 1,464 for the year.

Chief executive David Bellamy says: “We are delighted with our fourth-quarter figures. Record new investments and exc ellent retention are a credit to our entire community and have helped drive group funds under management to record levels. We are extremely pleased with the fact that we have grown the partnership by 9 per cent, the largest annual inc rease in 10 years. Our overall performance in 2009 gives us both the confidence and a good platform for further growth this year.”

If you enjoyed this article, sign up here to receive daily email updates from Money Marketing and Follow @_moneymarketing