Evelyn Partners, formerly Tilney Smith & Williamson, has reported a 6% decline in interim profits due to "challenging" market conditions.

The recently renamed Financial Planner and wealth manager said despite difficult conditions there was strong growth in net new business and operating income and it made progress on key strategic initiatives.

Adjusted EBITDA, a key measure of profit, saw a decline of 6% (£5.5m) from £91.7m last time to £86.2m over the past six months.

Profits were also hit by higher costs but the firm said the migration of assets to its new platform over the next 12 months should provide cost savings.

Assets under management fell by 8.7% to £52.7 billion at 30 June (31 December 2021: £57.7 billion) due to a downturn in stock markets.

Net new business flows of £1.1 billion were 12% higher than in H1 2021, the firm said. 

Operating income increased 5.3% to £290.5 million (H1 2021: £275.9 million), with growth across both financial services and professional services.

The company transitioned to the Evelyn Partners brand in June and it said the move had been well received by employees and clients.

It also relaunched its Bestinvest arm as a hybrid advice service “combining powerful online tools with support from investment coaches and the ability to purchase competitive advice packages.”

Teams from three advice firms joined Evelyn in the year-to-date and the company says there is a strong pipeline of advisers looking to join the company.  

During the period the company also launched Ignite, its professional services technology platform, and completed office relocations to 45 Gresham Street in London, and 103 Colmore Row in Birmingham. 

Chris Woodhouse, group chief executive, said: “The war in Ukraine, high levels of inflation and rising borrowing costs have created a challenging backdrop this year, with both equity and bond markets down during the first six months of 2022. During this period our relative investment performance has been strong compared to peers.  

“Despite this tough market environment, we continued to generate significant new business, with £2.7 billion of gross inflows and net flows of £1.1 billion, which were up 12% compared to the first half of last year. This growth is a testament to the strength of our proposition, the breadth and reach of our distribution, and the quality of our people. 

“Operating income increased by 5.3%, with growth in both financial services and professional services. Adjusted EBITDA of £86.2 million was down 6.0% compared to the same period last year, reflecting a combination of increased costs as we have invested in the business to capitalise on the significant longer-term growth opportunity available to us and the impact of market declines on the fees that we earn from managing client assets. 

“Going forward, our EBITDA will benefit from the annualised impact of both growth and efficiency initiatives implemented in 2021 as well as the migration of assets to our new platform during the second half of 2022 and in early 2023 which will generate material cost savings.

“Our unique breadth of services spanning D2C platform, Financial Planning, discretionary investment management, specialist tax advice and professional services, creates a strong competitive advantage.  Given the strength of our business model, the unrivalled breadth of our proposition and the quality of our people we are confident in the prospects for Evelyn Partners despite near-term headwinds.”