James Hay bosses say they are focused on “getting the basics right” on service but acknowledged there was “some way to go”, as the firm reported an adjusted operating profit £7.1 million.

IFG Group, the parent of James Hay, this morning published a preliminary statement of results for the year ended 31 December 2016.

This showed James Hay’s revenue was £47.5 million and that it had assets under administration of £22.1billion. The total number of Sipps was 52,391.

Alastair Conway, CEO of James Hay, said: “Like most retirement specialist platforms, the strain from increased volume and complexity of calls off the back of the pension freedoms, is proving to be a long-term norm rather than a short-lived spike.

“For that reason, we have focused strongly on enhancing service and getting the basics right. Feedback from our advisers and their clients shows that the benefits of this investment are starting to be felt, but we know we have a way to go yet, and that is our priority for 2017.”

He added that 2016 was a year of “strong organic growth in assets and we ended 2016 with very strong momentum”.

Source: Tables below both from IFG performance report 23 March 2017

A company statement read: “While industry-wide platform flows suffered year on year, James Hay’s flows were less impacted by market uncertainty and boosted by continued demand for pension flexibility and an increase in DC and DB consolidation which meant organic inflows increased by 42% during Q4 2016, compared to the same period in 2015 (which excludes the acquisitions completed during 2015).”

IFG stated in the report: “Developing James Hay from being a complex Sipp administrator to a customer focused platform, and Sanderson House from a niche financial adviser to an advisory and discretionary manager for a broader range of clients, will be a catalyst for accelerated growth and increased operational capability over the medium term. This unwavering focus on creating customer-centric businesses will deliver long-term value to shareholders.”