Old Mutual Wealth has attributed a 16% rise in gross sales to the "shot of adrenaline" that has been the pension reforms.
The increase to £4.6billion in Q1 compared to £3.9billion last year, the firm stated in its financial results, which were released this morning.

Pension sales of £0.6billion were 40% up on the previous year as clients transferred to the platform to take advantage of the new flexible options, the company reported.

Demand for financial advice also increased significantly due to the reforms, officials said, with pension and annuity sales at Intrinsic up 23% compared to Q1 2014.

Overall, total sales at Intrinsic were up 65% in Q1 and the company said it "continues to recruit high producing Financial Planners into its network."

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Paul Feeney, chief executive officer at Old Mutual Wealth, said: "The pension freedoms have been like a shot of adrenaline to the financial services industry.

"Even before they were introduced we saw increased demand for financial advice, flexible pension products and packaged investment solutions as people got ready for the changes.

"Our research shows that 81% of over-55s are aware of the new freedoms, indicating the reforms will encourage more people to take advantage of the benefits of saving into a pension.

"We hope the new Government will recognise the benefit of continuity – further changes risk dampening appetite for long-term saving and creating additional complexity in the pension taxation system.

"One thing that is very clear is that we will continue to see strong demand for financial advice this year as people embrace new and more flexible ways of funding the later parts of their lives."

Net client cash flow during the quarter was £1billion, 9% lower than prior year, and when the planned loss of a lower margin institutional mandate was taken into account, underlying performance was 8% ahead of Q1 2014.

Funds under management stood at £102.3billion at the end of the quarter, boosted by the acquisition of Quilter Cheviot which completed during the period and added £17.5billion.

UK platform assets were £33billion, up 7% since the start of the year.