Quilter assets rise 19% to £160.5 billion as client inflows increase

Key Facts

Quilter's assets under management and administration rose to £160.5 billion as of 30 September 2026, up 19% year on year, according to the company's third-quarter trading update. The company recorded core net investment inflows from clients of £2,891 million during the quarter, compared with £2,227 million in the same period of 2025. Core net inflows totalled £8,850 million over the first nine months of the year. The company had attracted core net inflows of £6,733 million in the corresponding period a year earlier. The rise in assets was thus accompanied by an increase in funds attracted from clients by the core business, both in the third quarter alone and over the period from the start of the year to the end of September.

In the platform business, net investment inflows reached about £8.0 billion in the first nine months of 2026, according to Quilter's update. Platform net inflows rose 25% in the third quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, with growth in funds coming through adviser channels. Quarterly inflows directed to the platform by Quilter advisers increased 10% year on year during the period. Inflows from independent advisers grew faster, rising 33% compared with the third quarter of 2025 and outpacing the company's own adviser channel. Alongside inflow growth across both channels, Quilter adviser productivity rose 9% in the third quarter from its level in the corresponding period last year.

Quilter's chief executive attributed the company's performance to the strength of its "dual distribution model", referring to its reliance on both its own advisers and independent advisers to attract inflows to the platform. At group level, gross inflows increased 22% in the third quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the company. In portfolio management, WealthSelect's assets under management exceeded £30 billion during the third quarter of 2026. This was the first time WealthSelect's assets under management had crossed that level, according to Quilter's trading update. In the core business, asset persistency held steady at 91% from the start of the year to the end of September, alongside the expansion in assets and investment inflows recorded by the group during the period.

Quilter's high-net-worth segment recorded net investment inflows of £322 million in the third quarter of 2026, according to the company's update. This represented a 35% increase from the segment's net inflows in the same period a year earlier. Gross inflows into the high-net-worth segment during the quarter, before accounting for outflows, totalled £873 million. Over the first nine months of 2026, the segment's net inflows rose 20% compared with the corresponding period last year. Annual growth in high-net-worth net inflows was therefore faster in the third quarter than over the first nine months combined, according to the figures Quilter released for the segment.

The quarterly trading update comes after Quilter recorded adjusted pre-tax profit of £112 million in the first half of 2026, according to its official filing with Britain's Financial Conduct Authority. Adjusted pre-tax profit in the first half of 2025 was about £100 million, putting the year-on-year increase in this measure at 12%. The company's revenue in the first half of the current year totalled £379 million, according to the filing for that period's results. Meanwhile, the expense base for the same months was £267 million, as reported in the company's first-half financial results. Profit after tax under International Financial Reporting Standards totalled £45 million over the same period.

On shareholder returns, Quilter adopted a policy of distributing 70% of earnings after tax and interest, according to a separate official filing with Britain's Financial Conduct Authority. The dividend policy takes effect from the 2026 financial year, according to the company's announcement to shareholders. The mechanism for returning earnings to shareholders comprises a mix of ordinary dividends and ongoing periodic share buybacks, as Quilter set out in its policy. As part of this, the company announced a share buyback programme of up to £100 million. Quilter set 2026 as the year for completing the announced buyback programme, as part of its steps to return funds to shareholders during the financial year.