Aberdeen Group (LON: ABDN) reported net outflows of £0.3bn for the third quarter, as growth at its interactive investor platform did not fully offset withdrawals elsewhere. Total assets under management and administration (AUMA) were £578.9bn at the 30th of September, up 4% from £556.0bn at the 31st of December but just below £579.4bn at the 30th of June. The company said the figures are unaudited.
Gross inflows of £19.8bn were outweighed by £20.1bn of redemptions. The quarterly outflow compares with £0.5bn a year earlier, and the outflow for the year to date is £3.3bn against £1.4bn.
The strongest part of the group was interactive investor. Net inflows were £2.5bn, up 32% from £1.9bn a year earlier, in what Aberdeen called a seasonally quieter quarter. Inflows for the year to date reached £9.3bn, up 58%.
Customers rose to 533k, up 8% on a year ago, while customers holding self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) climbed 34% to 131k. Platform assets were £111.8bn.
Trading activity cooled from earlier in the year. Daily average retail trades were 28.1k, up 6% on a year earlier but down from 36.1k in the second quarter. Chief executive Jason Windsor said trading activity was well above last year’s average, though lower than the elevated levels seen earlier this year.
The adviser business had net outflows of £0.7bn, unchanged from the second quarter, taking the year-to-date outflow to £2.0bn. Windsor addressed the delay directly.
While returning to net inflows is taking longer than anticipated, we continue to take significant steps forward.
Jason Windsor, chief executive, Aberdeen Group
The investments arm lost £2.0bn net in the quarter against £1.8bn a year earlier, and £10.4bn so far this year. Insurance Partners saw £2.5bn of outflows, largely from Standard Life heritage business in run-off, while Institutional and Retail Wealth took in £1.0bn excluding liquidity.
On capital, Aberdeen cut its stake in Standard Life plc in October from about 10.3% to about 5.2%, raising about £430m, and says it intends to deploy the proceeds under its capital allocation policy. It has also notified bondholders that it will redeem £210m of Additional Tier 1 debt at its first call date in December.
The company said it is confident of delivering its full-year targets: adjusted operating profit of at least £300m and net capital generation of about £300m. Management hosts an analyst call at 8:30am today.