AJ Bell’s platform customer numbers increased by 66,000 over the past year to nearly 542,000, up almost 14%.

The firm report strong growth in customer numbers today in a 12 month trading update despite some hesitancy from customers over the forthcoming Budget.

While customer growth figures were strong, the firm, like other rivals recently, reported growing ‘Budget hesitancy’ as investors reacted to concerns about the Budget.

AJ Bell said there had been, “a noticeable change in both customer contributions to pensions and tax-free cash withdrawals.”

The firm said total advised customers increased by 12,000 to close at 171,000, up 8% in the year. Total D2C customers increased by 54,000 to close at 371,000, up 17% in the year.

The platform and SIPP provider also reported record assets under administration (AUA) of £86.5 billion, up 22% in the year.

Gross and net inflows across the platform were significantly higher than prior year, the firm said. It attributed this to continued investment in AJ Bell’s brand and propositions alongside better retail investor confidence compared to the previous year.

Gross inflows in the year were £13.1 billion, up 41% versus the prior year (FY23: £9.3 billion) and net inflows in the year were £6.1 billion, up 45% versus the prior year (FY23: £4.2 billion).

There were favourable market movements of £9.5 billion, equal to 13% of opening AUA (FY23: £2.6 billion).

At AJ Bell Investments, AJ Bell’s investment provider, there were strong flows in both the advised and D2C markets, with net inflows in the year of £1.5 billion (FY23: £1.6 billion). Assets under management (AUM) reached a record £6.8 billion, up 45% in the year (FY23: £4.7 billion).

Despite the strong growth there were also outflows of £7.3bn with the advised platform in particular seeing significant outflows of £4.3bn.

Michael Summersgill, chief executive, said: “I am pleased to report on another excellent year in which we have delivered impressive growth in customers and assets under administration. Platform customer numbers increased by 14% to close at 542,000 while platform AUA was up 22% to £86.5 billion, both new records for AJ Bell.

“Our strategy is centred on our dual-channel platform which serves both the advised and D2C platform markets using a single technology platform and single operating model. This maximises our growth opportunity within the platform market, whilst being highly efficient to operate. Platform net inflows of over £6 billion demonstrates the benefit of serving both markets, while our efficient model drives strong profitability, enabling continual reinvestment in the business to support our long-term growth ambitions.

“Our investments business continued to perform strongly in both the advised and D2C markets, with £1.5 billion of net inflows helping to drive assets under management up to £6.8 billion, 45% higher than a year ago.

“We continue to advance discussions around the creation of a supportive legislative environment for long-term investing through simplification of the ISA system and long-term pension tax stability. Pensions are the primary retirement savings vehicle in the UK and customers are unsurprisingly sensitive to changes in their tax treatment.

“Amidst increased press coverage ahead of the upcoming Budget, we have seen a noticeable change in both customer contributions to pensions and tax-free cash withdrawals. Whilst these behavioural changes do not have a material impact on AJ Bell’s business performance, they represent significant decisions for individual customers. We have therefore made representations to the Treasury calling for a commitment to a pension tax lock in the Budget, guaranteeing stability in key pension tax legislation for at least this parliament.

“In FY24 we have enhanced our propositions, improved our brand awareness and lowered the cost of investing for our customers whilst maintaining our industry-leading service levels. This has helped to drive our strong performance this year, but more importantly it provides a strong foundation for our future growth prospects. Whilst the upcoming Budget has introduced unhelpful uncertainty, we remain positive about the outlook for AJ Bell and the platform market more broadly. We look forward to announcing the annual results for what has been another successful year for AJ Bell.”