Net inflows to wealth manager St James’s Place slumped by more than a third in the six months to June compared to last year but funds under management climbed to a record high as the firm pledged to cut £500m of costs by 2030.

SJP said today it would cut costs by £80m by 2026 and reduce its overall costs by £100m a year by 2027 with the aim of cutting £500m in total from its costs.

Mark FitzPatrick, chief executive, said the cost savings would be invested back into the business as he praised the firm’s “robust business performance” while it struggled to deal with “past challenges.”

The firm reported net inflows of £1.9bn for the six month period, down from £3.4bn for the same period in 2023.

Funds under management climbed to a record £181.9bn, up £13.7bn from the £168.2bn recorded at the end of December 2023.

Gross inflows rose slightly to £8.5bn compared to £8bn in the same six months last year.

SJP said there was a net 3% increase in its client base to 988,000 by the end of June compared to 958,000 as at the end of December 2023.

Mr FitzPatrick said: “We have seen high levels of activity and engagement between our advisers and our clients, contributing to positive flows.”

Turning to the company’s recent difficulties he said: “The first half has seen us make progress against our significant programmes of work to simplify our charging structure and review historic client servicing records.”

He said the firm is on track to deliver its new charging structure in the second half of 2025, in line with previous guidance.

Mr FitzPatrick added: “The focus of our review of historic client servicing records has been on building and readying the infrastructure that is necessary to analyse significant amounts of servicing records efficiently and accurately. We remain comfortable that the provision we have set up to cover the costs of this exercise is appropriate.”

In February the firm admitted it had set aside £426m to deal with client claims about historic ongoing advice after a surge in complaints in late 2023.

The firm, one of the biggest wealth advisers in the UK with around 5,000 partners, announced in October that it had concluded a "comprehensive review" of its client charging model and announced plans for a simpler and more comparable charging structure. It took action after widespread criticism of its charges.