abrdn PLC on Wednesday reported a rise in assets under management and administration in the first-quarter, as it reported net inflows of £800 million and ‘continued organic growth’ at interactive investor.
The Edinburgh-based investment company said assets under management and administration amounted to £507.7 billion at the end of March, up around 2.6% from £494.6 billion at the end of the fourth-quarter.
abrdn put the improvement down to ‘stronger markets and positive net flows’. It reported net inflows of £800 million in the first-quarter, a turnaround from the £6.2 billion worth of net outflows it suffered in the first three months of 2023. For 2023 as a whole, net outflows totalled £17.6 billion, as gross inflows amounted to £64.1 billion, and redemptions amounted to £81.7 billion.
abrdn hailed ‘continued organic growth in interactive investor’ in the first-quarter, with customer numbers there rising to 414,000, a climb of some 1.7% from 407,000 at the end of 2023. Assets under management and administration at ii rose 5.5% quarter-on-quarter to £69.6 billion.
‘We had net inflows at a group level, including strong liquidity flows which contributed to positive overall flows within Investments. At interactive investor, we saw continued organic growth in customers and flows. We were particularly pleased with the growth in SIPP customers. Yet clearly there is more work to be done in Investments and Adviser, where we have actions underway to improve performance,’ Chief Executive Stephen Bird said.
In the Investments arm, assets under management and administration rose 2.1% quarter-on-quarter to £374.3 billion at the end of March.
abrdn said: ‘Institutional and Retail Wealth net inflows in Q1 2024 were £700 million including strong inflows of £2.6 billion into liquidity. There were also net inflows into quantitatives and fixed income. It was a challenging quarter for equities with continued net outflows primarily reflecting industry asset allocation away from Asia and emerging markets.’
In Adviser, assets under management and administration rose 2.3% on-quarter to £75.2 billion. This was despite redemptions being ‘elevated’. Net outflows in Adviser amounted to £900 million in the first-quarter.
abrdn CEO Bird said the firm’s ‘cost transformation programme is on track’. It is looking to ‘sustainably restore our business to a more acceptable level of profitability’.
‘Our key focus, and our most important priority, is on delivering investment performance for all of our clients,’ Bird added.
abrdn shares rose 2.9% to 142.91 pence each in London on Wednesday morning. Shares are down around 31% over the past 12 months, however.
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