Wealth management group St James's Place has reported record new business inflows and funds under management for the 12 months ended 31 December 2017.

The company said gross inflows were £14.6 billion for the last quarter - up 29% - and total group funds under management (FUM) rose to £90.7 billion - up 20%. It increased its number of qualified advisers by 7% to 3,661 making it one of the largest financial advisory businesses in the UK. SJP now has 2,415 partner businesses (2016: 2,378) and 3,661 qualified advisers (2016: 3,415).

Andrew Croft, the new chief executive who took over from David Bellamy this month, said: "It gives me great pleasure to confirm that the strong performance we experienced in the first nine months of 2017 continued into the final quarter, making 2017 a record year.

“Gross inflows for the final quarter exceeded £4 billion taking full year inflows to £14.6 billion, growth of 29%.  The continued strong and improving retention of client funds provided for net inflows of over £2.8 billion in the quarter and £9.5 billion for the 12 months, growth of 40%.  This result, together with positive investment returns, increased funds under management by £15.4 billion to £90.7 billion, growth of 20%.

“At the heart of this sustained growth is the importance we place on maintaining long lasting relationships with, and between, our partners and clients and serving them well. We continue to see a growing demand for advice and it is therefore also pleasing to report a 7% increase in the number of qualified advisers across our partner businesses.

“Our continuing focus on achieving the best possible outcomes for our clients, through the provision of trusted financial advice and our distinctive investment management approach, gives us confidence that we will continue to grow our business, in line with our objectives, in 2018 and beyond.”

• Rival wealth manager Brewin Dolphin said its total funds under management increased by 3.5% to £41.5bn for the final quarter of 2017 (the first quarter of the company’s financial year).

In a quarterly trading update, the company said that total income was £79m (Q1 2017: £71.3m), an increase of 10.8% and core income was £76.2m, up 12.2% on Q1 2017 (£67.9m), driven by “strong year on year growth in core funds and Financial Planning income” (up 33.3% to £6.0m).

Total fee income rose 15.0% to £59.2m (Q1 2017: £51.5m) however total commission income of £13.6m (Q1 2017: £15.2m), showed a decline of 10.5% “in line with recent trends.”

David Nicol, chief executive said: "The business has continued to perform well in the first quarter, maintaining the positive momentum we saw at the end of our 2017 financial year. Growth in total funds was achieved from continued strong inflows into our core services and positive investment returns for our clients.

“This has led to good overall income growth with the particularly strong growth in fee income more than offsetting the decline in commission income. The business remains focused on delivery of our strategic initiatives and we believe that our positive momentum will continue into the second quarter."