Wrap platform operator Nucleus has paid its first dividend to shareholders since launch in 2006.

The ‘adviser-built’ investment platform says the dividend follows a successful year of profitable growth which saw assets under administration (AUA) hit £11.4bn and the business deliver a 21% increase in profits and a 15% increase in turnover.

The £4.3m dividend paid on 18 August equates to a payment of £2.43 per ordinary share and has been distributed to the business’ ordinary shareholders.

The company’s first dividend reflects a yield of 4.8% and is a mix of an ordinary profit based dividend and a one-off distribution of historic surplus reserves. Nucleus says it has become only the second adviser wrap platform to have paid a dividend to shareholders.

Nucleus was launched in 2006 and held more in cash reserves than has been invested in developing the core platform.

The dividend comes after a reduction in charges announced in June for clients with portfolios in excess of £500,000 from 1 July 2017.

Half year results showed gross inflows up by 44.8% to £1.3bn and AUA up by 28.0% to £12.8bn, resulting in an increase in revenue of 26.5% to £19.5m.

David Ferguson, founder and CEO of Nucleus, said: “This is another major milestone for Nucleus and one I am hugely proud of.”

• Wealth platform SEI also announced strong figures today with a positive first half of 2017. Parent SEI announced today that its UK Private Banking business increased assets under administration (AUA) by £6.2bn, or 20 percent, in the first half of this year, taking total AUA to £37.9bn.

SEI Wealth Platform, SEI’s UK Private Banking business, hit several milestones in the first half of 2017. It achieved 300,000 end-clients for the first time and also added three new clients in addition to completing the successful on-boarding of WHIreland and a contract extension with Tilney Bestinvest to 2023. SEI also said this year’s ISA season was much stronger than 2016.