Advised platforms’ assets rose by 12.5 per cent in 2024 despite an increase in outflows, analysis from The Lang Cat has found.

It revealed that assets across advised platforms rose from £547.6bn to £616.2bn last year, including a 3.82 per cent increase in the fourth quarter.

This increase was driven by continued strong new business throughout 2024, which peaked in Q4 2024 to £20.9bn, up by 42.8 per cent compared to the last quarter of 2023.

These new business flows more than offset the increase in outflows, which spiked around the Budget announcements in late October.

Outflows rose from £14.2bn at the end of last year to £16.5bn in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to The Lang Cat.

As gross sales growth outpaced the rise in outflows, advised net sales of £4.38bn represented the highest like-for-like quarterly sales total since Q2 2022.

Quilter, Aviva, and Transact began and ended the year as the top three for gross and net advised sales, with Quilter breaking its own records in Q4 2024 with reported gross sales of £3.7bn and net sales of £1.92bn.

“Last time out we mentioned that we expected a spike in outflows in the final quarter of 2024, before returning to normal and platforms have been telling us that’s the case,” stated The Lang Cat senior analyst, Rich Mayor.

“The Budget caused a spike in withdrawals particularly in GIAs and pensions, but they’ve dropped off since.

“The proposed changes to inheritance tax and pensions was the biggest surprise in November, and we’ve researched advice professionals to see how they’re thinking of mitigating the changes. Increasing use of onshore bonds, as well as trust planning, and utilising gifting more are the most popular plans on the table at the moment, and all effect platforms.

“Bond sales are on the up in 2024, and while they’re still dwarfed in overall gross sales by those going into pensions and ISA, for example, the nature of the products with regards to tax and withdrawals make them much stickier products for platforms.

“They’ve been the second-highest product for net sales for a while now. Some advisers that are waiting to see what happens, exploring other strategies, and some don’t think the proposals will end up being the same by 2027.

“For platforms, we think this means that the more traditional elements of a proposition like product and investment range, as well as technical support and trust options are likely to play a key role in success for 2025 and beyond.”

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