Assets under management and administration for Financial Planner and wealth manager Quilter dropped 11% to £99.6bn in 2022.

In common with many wealth managers and platform, assets dropped considerably as bond and equity markets faced major headwinds.

Net flows at Quilter plummeted 55% from £4bn to £1.8bn following a tough year for investment performance and the sale of the Quilter International business.

Net flows were hit particularly hard hit at the firm’s Affluent segment, where net inflows were down 62% on the prior year at £1.1bn. The firm said lower gross sales in the IFA channel were a specific contributing factor.

Gross flows were 20% lower than 2021 at £10.5bn which Quilter said was primarily as a result of lower flows onto the Quilter Platform.

Adjusted profit before tax held steady at £134m (2021: £138m).

Adjusted diluted earnings per share rose 7% to 7.9p for the year, according to the financial results released yesterday.

Steven Levin, who took over as CEO of Quilter following Paul Feeney’s departure in November, said 2022 was a particularly challenging year for the entire wealth management industry and said his priority was on improving revenue momentum and cost efficiency.

He added that the IFA-channel and the firm’s platform business is one of his key priorities for 2023.

He said: “The enhanced capability of our new platform allows us to support a wider range of IFA firms and to meet a broader spectrum of customers needs than has historically been the case. We continue to add new firms and generating stronger flows from this channel is a key priority for me.”

Mr Feeney will take up the role as group CEO of expanding Chartered Financial Planner Skerritts Group in May, subject to regulatory approval. He had spent over a decade at Quilter. 

Quilter also reported a drop in its restricted Financial Planners from 1,623 in 2021 to 1,502 at the end of 2022.

The firm continues to keep £5m aside for potential redress of British Steel Pension Scheme cases and other DB to DC pension transfer cases. This compares to a provision of £29m for 2021.