New platform business rose 43% year-on-year to £20.9bn for the fourth quarter of 2024 as recovery got under way, according to new data.

Advised platform net sales rose 55% during the quarter to £4.4bn (Q3 2024: £2.8bn).

The rise in advised sales came despite a rise in outflows, according to new data from platform consultancy the Lang Cat.

Net sales were the highest like-for-like quarterly sales since Q2 2022.

Outflows rose by 7% to £16.54bn (Q3 2024: £15.46bn), and 17% year-on-year (Q4 2023: £14.2bn).

Rich Mayor, senior analyst at the Lang Cat, said adviser platforms could see a change in products being bought by advisers following proposed changes to the inheritance tax treatment of pensions.

He said: “The proposed changes to IHT and pensions was the biggest surprise in November, and we’ve researched advice professionals to see how they’re thinking of mitigating the changes. Increasing use of onshore bonds, as well as trust planning, and utilising gifting more are the most popular plans on the table at the moment, and all affect platforms.

“Bond sales are on the up in 2024, and while they’re still dwarfed in overall gross sales by those going into pensions and ISAs, for example, the nature of the products with regards to tax and withdrawals make them much stickier products for platforms. They’ve been the second-highest product for net sales for a while now. 

"Some advisers that are waiting to see what happens, exploring other strategies, and some don’t think the proposals will end up being the same by 2027.

“For platforms, we think this means that the more traditional elements of a proposition, like product and investment range, as well as technical support and trust options are likely to play a key role in success for 2025 and beyond.” 

The top three platforms for gross and net advised sales remained Quilter, Aviva and Transact.

Gross adviser platform sales Q4 2024

Quilter broke its own records for the second year in a row. It was the first advised platform to reach £3bn in gross sales in Q3 2023 (£3.09bn) and increased this by 20% in Q4 2024. Net sales were up 33% over the same period to £1.92bn in Q4 2024.