Wealth manager, pensions and employee benefits firm Mattioli Woods’s total client assets have hit a milestone £10bn, according to its most recent trading update.

Gross discretionary assets under management hit £2.9bn.

The trading update was issued in advance of its interim results for the six months ended 30 November 2020, due to be announced on 9 February 2021.

The firm said it is in a strong financial position with £18m of cash at the end of the period.

During the period, Mattioli Woods completed its £25m takeover of private client firm Hurley Partners. It has acquired a number of wealth managers, Financial Planners and pension firms in recent years.

The trading update said Hurley Partners is integrating and performing well.

Ian Mattioli MBE, chief executive of Mattioli Woods, said: "The first six months of this financial year saw a continuation of the economic and political uncertainty that was a feature for most of 2020.  Throughout the period we proactively balanced securing good financial outcomes for our clients with ensuring the long-term sustainability of our business, remaining true to our purpose of putting clients first, which has been consistent throughout our 30 years of trading, and I am pleased to report further progress towards our ambitious medium term goals with total client assets now exceeding £10.6 billion.

"As anticipated, revenue was slightly lower than in the equivalent period last year due to the adverse impact of weaker financial markets and the suspension of certain statutory requirements for pension schemes resulting in lower fee-based revenues.  However, continued cost management and the positive contribution of Hurley Partners for part of the period more than offset the impact of reduced revenues on adjusted EBITDA.

"Our focus remains on our clients' well-being and the preservation of their wealth.  Clients quite rightly remain cautious of the prevailing economic and investment conditions, which reduced activity in the first half.  We recognise that a significant number of our clients continue to be impacted by the challenging economic conditions and remain sympathetic to their needs.  Accordingly, we have resolved to maintain our previously announced position not to alter any of our fee structures or implement any fee increases for the remainder of this financial year.

"With a post-Brexit agreement on trade and other issues, coupled with anticipated changes to the personal tax regime in the first half of the 2021 calendar year, conditions are favourable for an increase in investment activity and demand for advice in the second half of this financial year.

"The early, decisive actions taken to protect our clients and staff through the pandemic have ensured our business remains fully operational whilst the majority of our employees continue to work remotely.  This, combined with the active management of fixed and discretionary costs, enabled us to achieve further cost savings and margin improvement in the first half, while restoring interim bonus payments to the majority of our employees.

"Having further strengthened our executive and senior management teams during the first half, we plan to build on the progress already achieved over the remainder of this financial year.  Our level of new business enquiries has increased both in volume and average value compared to the same period last year, and we have successfully adopted new ways of working in response to the pandemic.  We anticipate greater client activity and increasing inflows into our bespoke investment services in the second half of this year.

"The recent appointments of David Kiddie, Edward Knapp and Martin Reason to our Board as independent Non-Executive Directors further strengthens our board and brings additional expertise as we continue to execute against our growth strategy.”