Wealth manager St James’s Place returned to profit last year after introducing a simpler and more comparable charging structure following customer complaints.

In a stock market update today, it reported a £535.9m pre-tax profit before tax for the year, up from a loss of £4.5m in 2023 when profits were hit by provisions for potential customer redress.

Last month SJP reported that funds under management soared to a record £190.2bn - up £22bn (2023: £168.2bn).

Gross inflows climbed 14% to £18.4bn in 2024, up from £15.4bn. The final dividend for the year was 12p per share, up from 8p a share in the previous year.

Mark FitzPatrick, chief executive, said: “2024 was a busy year for SJP. We announced our redefined purpose and refreshed strategy, which position us for further success.

“We ran our first ever national brand campaign and explored the power of financial advice through our Real Life Advice research series and our client stories.”

The company said it now has more than 1m clients.

It added that investment returns, net of all charges, represented 10.5% of opening funds under management.

It said its cost and efficiency programme, which aims to reduce costs by £100m by 2027, is “on track.”

When it came to the charges controversy, Mr FitzPatrick said the new charging structure would made a difference.

He said: “We continue to make good progress with the implementation of our simple, comparable charging structure. We believe this will help to improve the perception of SJP and the value of our proposition, making us more attractive to potential clients and advisers.”

Looking ahead, Mr FitzPatrick said: “The work we are doing to enhance our business by strengthening our core and building on our key strengths will ensure we continue to capture the compelling market opportunity in UK wealth management.

“The demand, and need, for financial advice is high, driven by systemic factors which means this isn't going away.”

In the first half of 2024 the Financial Ombudsman Service said it received 485 new complaints about St James’s Place - almost double the previous half year.