Financial Planner and wealth manager Quilter revealed a 5.1% boost in assets under management for the first three months of the year.

The results came despite what it called a “challenging market”.

The firm’s first quarter results showed assets under management were at £114.9bn and increase of 5.1% from 31 December.

Net cash flow was down, dropping from £0.6bn in 2018 to £0.5bn this year.

Elsewhere the report highlighted outflows of £0.9bn within Quilter Life Assurance, which included £0.6bn in respect of the deliberate run-off of the institutional book.

The report also emphasised Quilter’s offer for Lighthouse Group plc, which was announced on 3 April.

There were defined benefit to defined contribution gross sales of £0.2bn in the first quarter of 2019 contrasted with £0.6bn in the first quarter of 2018 as the group’s attitude towards this source of new business remained “cautious”.

The Lighthouse Scheme document was circulated to shareholders on 15 April 2019.

Completion of the acquisition is expected “towards the end of the second quarter, subject to the satisfaction of the outstanding conditions including Lighthouse shareholders’ approval and FCA consent”.

Paul Feeney, CEO of Quilter, said: “As indicated at our full year results, net client cash flows have continued to be affected by the challenging markets.

“However, we continue to be encouraged by the resilience of integrated flows which have remained robust during this period, and the high level of customer asset retention across our businesses which was broadly stable on 2018 at 89%.

“While near-term headwinds remain, this demonstrates that our clients and their advisers value Quilter’s integrated advice-led model, and continues to be supportive of our operating margin and revenue outlook.

“To support our continued strategic progress, we were delighted to announce the recommended cash offer for Lighthouse Group.

“The Scheme document was posted to their shareholders earlier this week and we look forward to their advisers joining the Quilter family and helping to secure our position as the best place to go for trusted financial advice in the UK.”

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