AXA’s multi-manager investment arm Architas is planning further expansion after announcing net new money invested last year of £1.67bn and total assets up to £24.23bn worldwide in its annual results.

Net new money for the UK business in 2016 was £860m with total assets at £21.8bn, a 10% increase from the end of 2015. The company says support from advisers via platforms was strong. This was despite the sale of AXA’s Elevate platform to Standard Life.

Hans Georgeson, chief executive of Architas, said that despite the challenges of a tough year for the advisory sector in 2016, Architas was well placed to grow.

He said: “Despite the challenges we faced in 2016 we continued to see strong growth across all areas of our UK and European businesses.

“In the UK we are extremely pleased with the continued trust placed in us from long standing adviser clients on the Elevate platform. Flows remained stable in the UK during a year of transition with the sale of the platform. We have also seen the exponential growth of flows from other platforms in the UK market as we build our relationship with a broader range of advice firms. This follows a significant investment into our UK business to develop our distribution, marketing and servicing capabilities to better meet the needs of advisers.

He added: ”Overall there was very strong growth in flows despite the challenges faced by advisers and investors in a turbulent 2016. We saw the highest demand for our Multi-Asset Passive and Blended ranges, as well as the Diversified Real Assets fund that has now reached £150m less than three years since launch.

Looking ahead, he said that despite the challenges of Brexit Architas was “well placed for any outcome with regulated entities and funds domiciled across the UK and Europe.”

Globally, AXA Group has 166,000 employees serving 107m clients in 64 countries.