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Aberdeen Group has reported a 6% increase in assets under management and advice, from £511.4bn at the end of last year, to £542.4bn at the end of the third quarter. The trading update put this down to continued momentum in interactive investor, with total customers up 14% year-on-year to 492,000 - including around 20,000 expected from the Jarvis acquisition - alongside higher daily trading volumes and third quarter net flows up 58% year-on-year to £1.9bn. Adviser net outflows of £500m were still a 50% improvement on the £1bn lost this time last year, supported by improved service and repricing. Investments assets under management of £382.3bn are up 3% year to date, driven by positive market movements. Net outflows of £1.8bn are also 49% lower than the third quarter of 2024 last year, with the improvement driven by fixed income, alternatives and equities. Within interactive investor, a record of 98,000 self-invested personal pension customers had transferred in at period end, up 29% year-on-year. The business also reported aily average retail trades of 26,000 - up 43% versus the third quarter of 2024. The sale of Aberdeen's former 1825 financial planning business - announced in August - is expected to close during the first quarter of 2026. Within adviser, assets under management rose from £75.2bn to £79bn during the year to date. As for investments, net outflows include Insurance Partners outflows of £1.1bn, principally reflecting Phoenix’s heritage business in run-off. Third quarter net flows in institutional and retail wealth improved by £2.9bn year-on-year, reflecting higher gross inflows in fixed income and alternatives. Redemptions in equities also improved, but “remain elevated“, with net outflows of £1.6bn, down from £2.4bn the same time last year. Aberdeen launched two active exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the London Stock Exchange in late September and its global ETF product suite reached assets under management of circa £12bn. As a result of a client driven asset allocation change, the group is also expecting a £4.5bn redemption from a “very low margin“ quants mandate in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen's transformation programme “remains on track“ to deliver targeted annualised savings of at least £150m by the end of this year. Chief executive Jason Windsor said: “Over the last quarter we have made good progress against the plan we set out in March. “Interactive investor has maintained its excellent growth, with transfers and trading activity at record levels and net inflows 58% higher year-on-year. Increasing brand awareness and a range of innovative new products launching soon mean the business is very well positioned to sustain its growth momentum. “In adviser, customer service has again improved, with net outflows in the quarter 50% better year-on-year - our focus remains on returning to growth and achieving our 2026 net flows target. “In investments, AUM has benefited from positive markets as well as net inflows in quants, alternatives and our targeted growth areas of fixed income and real assets. “Net flows for equities remain challenging, despite a significant improvement compared to previous trends.“ He added: “Looking ahead, we are confident in our prospects as a wealth and investments group, with the growth potential across all three of our businesses reflected in our 2026 targets.” Don't miss the latest headlines with our twice-daily newsletter - sign up here for free.
