Advisers placed almost £2bn with investment platform Transact during the quarter ended 30 September 2021.

The fourth quarter for the platform saw its highest ever inflows.

Outflows remained steady for the quarter at £660m, leaving net flows of just over £1.3bn.

Funds under direction at 30 September 2021 were £52bn, a rise of 26% year on year and 3.6% over the quarter.

Over the quarter the FTSE All Share Index rose by 1.1% and the MSCI World Index (Large & Mid Cap) rose by 2.1%.

For the financial year as a whole, advisers placed over £7.6bn with the platform.

Staff returned to the platform’s City of London-based HQ from August with the firm piloting a hybrid working model with a minimum of three days each week in the office for full-time staff.

The platform popular with Financial Planners last month said growth has been held back recently by a struggle to increase staff as quickly as planned due to recruitment issues.

The platform has been recruiting throughout the year, and continues to do so, but says growth in staff numbers has been hampered by not being able to find enough suitable staff.

With a record number of job vacancies many UK firms have struggled to find enough qualified staff.

In a newsletter to users last month, Jonathan Gunby, CEO at Transact, apologised if the firm's service standards had slipped slightly due to recent recruitment issues.

In the most recent trading update sent this morning, Mr Gunby said the firm has recruited 25 graduates to fill some of the vacancies already this year.

He said: “We continue to see record levels of inflows and have been recruiting and investing in our online functionality. We are delighted to have recruited 25 graduates already this year and continue to recruit more experienced staff.”

Transact also posted strong financial results in its third quarter trading update in July. It reported a 7.2% rise in funds under direction and said it saw its highest ever third quarter gross inflows of £1.99bn.