Total group integrated flows for the wealth management and Financial Planning firm were £1bn, an increase of 25% from the £0.8bn seen in the same period of 2020.

Assets under management and administration were £119.9bn at the end of the quarter, a 26% increase year on year and a 2% increase from 31 December 2020.

The wealth management and Financial Planning firm said this growth was supported by improved net flows, positive investment performance and markets.

Net inflows for the group were £1.2bn, an increase of 240% from the £0.5bn seen in the first quarter of 2020.

First quarter gross sales were £3.8bn, an increase of 15% on the comparable period.

The Quilter Investment Platform delivered a 29% increase in gross sales for the quarter of £2.2bn which led to a 100% increase in net inflows for the platform to £1bn. It also exceeded monthly sales of £1bn for the first time.

Paul Feeney, CEO of Quilter, said: “I have often described our platform as the beating heart of our business and the opportunity it provides as being transformative for Quilter. It is therefore particularly pleasing to see a meaningful pick-up in the rate of platform sales.”

Quilter Cheviot also saw improved flows with net inflows of £0.2bn (Q1 2020: £0.1bn) due to better retention rates.

The only area of the business to see a shrink in revenues for the period was defined benefit to defined contribution transfers which shrunk 33%.

Quilter announced the sale of its Quilter International arm to Utmost Group for £483m earlier this month.

In its latest results, the firm confirmed that is expects to receive shareholder approval for the sale at a General Meeting of the company to be scheduled in June. It will publish the Class 1 Circular for the acquisition next month with the completion of the deal around year-end.

Quilter also resumed its share buyback programme on 7 April. As at 20 April 2021, 140.1m shares had been acquired for cancellation under Quilter’s capital return programme, at a cost of £187.2m representing an average price of 133.7 pence per share.