Wealth manager St James’s Place has seen strong growth in the third quarter with net inflows up 42% from £1.66bn to £2.36bn.

In an upbeat update today on new business inflows and funds under management for the three months ended 30 September 2017 it reported gross inflows of funds under management of £3.59 billion (2016: £2.80 billion) and continued strong retention of client funds at 95%.

Total group funds under management were up 20% on last year to £85.7 billion (2016: £71.4 billion), making it one of the largest wealth management groups in the UK.

In one of his final trading updates before he stands down at the end of the year after 11 years as chief executive, David Bellamy said the results underlined the benefit of the continued “high retention” of clients.

He said: “I am pleased to report another consistently strong set of results, with gross inflows 28% higher at £3.6 billion and net inflows some 42% stronger at £2.4 billion, compared with the same period last year.

“The sustained growth in new investments and continued high retention of clients and their investments, means that year to date net inflows are up 41% at £6.7 billion, compared to the same period last year. Group funds under management of £86 billion are up 14% since the beginning of the year and 20% over the last 12 months.”

Mr Bellamy added more details to the recent announcement of two new funds, including Strategic Growth Portfolio and the recent appointment of Nippon Value Investors to manage a new Japan fund. The launches take to 29 the number of managers available exclusively to St James’s Place clients in the UK, the company says.

Despite the economic and Brexit challenges, the company says that it is “confident in the scale and quality of our relationship-based approach to the management of our clients’ financial affairs.”

The company believes the demand for “trusted advice” will continue to grow and the company’s medium term growth strategy is deliverable.