Quilter says it will cut a “small number” of “restricted Financial Planners” following a dip in profits.

The company also plans to simplify its numerous businesses and transfer Quilter Private Client Advisers into Quilter Cheviot later this year. 

Adjusted pre-tax profits for 2020 for the group fell from £182m in 2019 to £168m in 2020.

Assets under Management and Administration were up 7% to £117.8bn at 31 December 2020. 

The company saw “headwinds” in 2020 including a £5m rise in costs due to Covid-19 changes.

Some other costs also rose including acquisition costs, a higher FSCS levy and higher regulatory expenses of £7m.

Despite the challenges the company managed to reduce overall costs by £16m (3%) in 2020 due to greater efficiencies, it said.

The company plans to trim a “small number” of restricted advisers, it said, but did not give details of numbers.

CEO Paul Feeney said an increased focus on adviser productivity, efficiency and customer focus is expected to lead to the departure of a small number of restricted Financial Planners in 2021.

Mr Feeney said: “For all of us, 2020 was a year of extraordinary challenges, both personal and professional. At Quilter, I am pleased that we have not only come through the year well but also strategically and operationally stronger. 

“The successful completion of our Platform Transformation Programme is a significant milestone. It not only proves our organisational capability to manage a project on this scale safely, but also sets us up for more accelerated growth in the huge UK wealth market.

“Turning to Quilter Financial Planning, our focus has been on integrating the acquisitions we made in 2019. Charles Derby was re-branded to Quilter Financial Advisers, our mass-affluent national business. The integration of Lighthouse plc is largely complete with advisers adopting the Quilter Financial Planners proposition, advice standards and technology. The generation of new client leads through our affinity relationships has remained strong despite the inevitable impact of Covid-19. 

“I appointed Stephen Gazard as CEO of Quilter Financial Planning in June with a view to repositioning the business to drive stronger net flows from a more productive base of advisers. This makes the next stage of Quilter Financial Planning’s evolution a very exciting one.

"While this will lead to certain advisers who are either not fully aligned with our proposition or who lack sufficient scale or strategic alignment leaving the business in 2021, we will have a simpler higher growth business delivering quality assured client outcomes to an even higher level of consistency."