AJ Bell (LSE:AJB), one of the UK's largest investment platforms, said assets under administration reached £121.5 billion in the third quarter, up 26% over the last year and 12% in the quarter alone.
Customer numbers rose by 39,000 in the quarter to 762,000, a 23% increase over the last year, split between 191,000 advised customers and 571,000 direct-to-consumer (D2C) customers. Platform net inflows hit a record £3.0 billion in the quarter, up 43% from £2.1 billion a year earlier, on gross inflows of £6.0 billion, up 50% from £4.0 billion.
The investment business also delivered record net inflows of £0.8 billion, against £0.4 billion in the prior year, with assets under management climbing 41% year-on-year to £11.4 billion.
Chief executive Michael Summersgill said the results reflected "the attractiveness of our low-cost, easy-to-use propositions and the excellent returns we are delivering on our continued brand and marketing investment."
The D2C platform added 37,000 new customers in the quarter, while the advised platform posted record gross inflows following recent changes to its distribution approach.
AJ Bell confirmed it will cut the annual charge on its core managed portfolio service range from 0.15% to 0.12%, effective from 1 October.
Summersgill said the company had "entered the final quarter with strong momentum" as the UK platform market continues to benefit from structural growth drivers.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
AJ Bell reported record quarterly net inflows of £3.0 billion on its platform (up 43% year-on-year) and £0.8 billion from its investment business, pushing assets under administration to £121.5 billion—a 26% annual increase. Customer growth accelerated to 762,000 (up 23% year-on-year), driven by 37,000 new direct-to-consumer additions in the quarter alone, while the company simultaneously cut fees on its core managed portfolio service to 0.12% from 0.15%, signaling confidence in scale and competitive positioning.
The combination of record inflows, accelerating customer acquisition, and fee compression—rather than margin defense—suggests AJ Bell is prioritizing market share capture in a structurally growing UK retail investment market. At a £1.5 billion market cap, the company is converting growth into customer stickiness while maintaining pricing power, a dynamic that supports the bull case if inflow momentum persists.
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