Transact sees total funds drop by over £2bn
Platform Transact saw funds under direction drop in the latest quarter by £2bn compared to the same period a year earlier, according to quarterly figures out today.
The company said average daily Funds Under Direction were £51.5bn in the latest quarter compared to £53.5bn the previous year.
Negative market movements cut the value of investments, a scenario seen recently by many platforms as stock market prices tumbled during much of 2022.
Despite the fall in total funds, net inflows were “resilient” during the quarter at £0.7bn with gross inflows at over £1.4bn. However outflows rose from £688m to £769m.
There was continued growth in Transact platform's adviser and customer base. As at 31 December 2022 the company had more than 7,600 registered advisers (up from 7,278 in December 2021) and around 227,000 clients using the platform (up from 213,178 the previous year).
Alex Scott, parent company IHP group chief executive, said: “I am pleased to report another quarter of solid growth for the Transact platform, maintaining the momentum seen during FY22.
“Whilst the economic landscape continues to be affected by higher inflation and economic uncertainty, the advised market remains robust, with clients continuing to seek financial advice to implement their financial plans and to mitigate the prevailing economic risks.
“Net inflows to the Transact platform for this quarter of £0.7bn were resilient, particularly in light of the economic environment, and were in line with the fourth quarter of FY22. Outflows for this quarter remained broadly in line with previous quarters, showing that our clients and their financial advisers continue to use the platform to support their long term financial plans.”
He added that the number of new financial advisers joining the platform had grown and client numbers rose by 2,200 during the quarter.
Transact is on schedule to begin the roll out of the next generation of its CURO software during the second half of FY23. The software will be provided by IHP acquisition Time4Advice. Beta testing is under way with an adviser firm and the planned roll out to adviser firms will start in the second half of FY23.