Net inflow of funds dropped slightly and funds under management fell by £1.3bn at wealth management giant St James’s Place in the first half of 2020.

Gross fund inflow was £7.3bn, a drop of 2% from 2019.

Net inflow of funds fell slightly to £4.5bn (2019: £4.4bn) at St James’s Place, according to its results for the six months ended 30 June 2020.

The wealth manager reported funds under management closing for the half at £115.7bn. This was a drop of £1.3bn from December.

The underlying cash result (often seen as an indicator of profit) was £114.4m (2019: £125.1m).

The half year results also showed that the FSCS costs were up considerably. The wealth management giant paid £28.8m for the first half of the year in comparison to £16.1m for the first half of 2019.

The underlying cash earnings per share was 21.4p, down from 23.7p for the first half of 2019.

The group said it would continue with its decision to retain around a third of the previously proposed 2019 final dividend until the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic become clearer.

Reacting to the results, the wealth management giant’s share price took a dip this morning. Recently its share price had begun to recover from the drop seen this spring and was edging closer to the highs seen in December 2019.

Net investment in Rowan Dartington was higher than 2019 due to a “challenging revenue environment” for the discretionary management business. Gross new business for Rowan Dartington was £213m, 27% lower than in the first half of 2019, and funds under management closed down 7% at £2.6bn due to “the negative impact of investment market movements”.

Andrew Croft, chief executive at St James’s Place, said: “The first half of 2020 has been an extraordinary period, both here in the UK and across the world, as the Covid-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted all our lives.

“We began the year with renewed confidence and momentum in the business as we saw investor sentiment rise following the UK General Election in December 2019, but this gave way to a challenging external environment in the UK as Covid-19 related lockdown and associated social distancing measures impacted the way we and the Partnership conduct business.

"I am, though, pleased to report a robust set of results for the first six months of 2020, which is testament to the resilience of our business. This extends beyond the resilience of our business model to include our people, the partnership, our systems and technology, and our finances, leaving us well positioned to make the most of the opportunities and challenges ahead.

“As the population at large recovers from more than four months of lockdown we anticipate a period of recuperation for the UK. Nonetheless, from what we have experienced so far in July, we still expect new business flows for the third quarter to be similar or slightly lower in terms of value to the level of flows recorded for the second quarter.

“We are then hopeful that, as the country returns from the summer break refreshed and ready for a return to the office, and supported by the high levels of client service provided by the partnership since lockdown, we will see momentum build through the final quarter.”