Wealth management giant St James’s Place (SJP) has reported gross inflows of £3.05bn for Q3 2020, a drop of 18% from Q3 2019, with funds under management up 1.5% to a record high of £118.7bn.

Net inflows for the quarter were £1.44bn, a drop of 33% (Q3 2019: 2.11bn).

The year to date gross inflow position for the group was £10.3bn.

The wealth management giant said outflows for the quarter were lower than the same period last year. The retention rate (annualised) was 96.4% (Q3 2019: 95.9%)

Earlier this week, activist investment firm PrimeStone Capital LLP said it wants a radical shake-up of wealth manager St James’s Place after accusing the firm of having a "bloated" organisational structure and suffering dismal share price performance.

Primestone, which owns about 1.2% of St James’s Place plc, said the company’s organisational structure is “bloated” and the share price has underperformed for five years.

Primestone wants a radical shake-up of the company to improve performance.

Andrew Croft, chief executive at SJP, said: "Amid a challenging external environment our advisers, their staff and our entire community have continued to demonstrate exceptional flexibility during the period, building and maintaining close relationships with clients and each other. We are therefore able to report another quarter of robust performance with gross inflows of over £3.0 billion, bringing the year-to-date position to £10.3 billion.

“I am encouraged that improved levels of activity towards the end of the quarter have continued into October, with activity for the current month at similar levels to the same month last year. Looking ahead, the increased uncertainty linked to Covid-19 will inevitably influence client investment confidence and consequent decision-making. However, drawing on the experience of the last six months, I am confident that the partnership will continue to adapt to whatever circumstances they face in order to establish long-term relationships with new clients through the provision of high-quality advice, and retain clients through maintaining outstanding service.

“Our confidence in the medium to long-term outlook for our business remains unchanged. We see an increasing demand for sound, highly personal Financial Planning advice and, through the comprehensive geographic reach and quality of the partnership, we remain extremely well positioned to meet this opportunity and drive further growth over time."