St James's Place lags rivals as UK fund flows jump 39%
Published: 10:35 07 Aug 2026 EDT
St James's Place PLC (LSE:STJ) was the weakest performer among Britain's big savings and investment groups in the second quarter, according to UBS analysis of industry fund flow data.
The wealth manager's gross inflows fell 2% year on year over the three months to June.
That compares with 10% growth implied by Investment Association figures for the market as a whole.
Rivals fared considerably better, with AJ Bell reporting gross flow growth of 46%, Quilter 27% and Integrafin 5%.
Analyst Nasib Ahmed offered two explanations for the shortfall.
The first is the mix of advised versus independent financial adviser flows, with the industry data suggesting most of the quarter's growth was driven by UK fund platforms.
The second is that St James's Place does not benefit when independent advisers consolidate onto platforms operated by its competitors.
Its full-service model, which combines advice, product, platform and fund management, does not accommodate the IFA route.
The wider picture was stronger.
Gross flows reported by the Investment Association for June alone jumped 39% on the same month last year.
Across the second quarter, industry gross flows rose 10%.
Fund platforms drove that increase with 20% growth, while discretionary fund management flows fell 5% and UK intermediary flows were broadly flat, up 1%.
June was a particularly strong month for intermediaries, where flows surged 86%, and for fund platforms, up 26%.
UBS cautioned that the monthly data is backwards-looking, given most UK platforms have already reported.
The household savings ratio, a measure of the share of disposable income that is not spent, stood at 8.9% in the first quarter.
That remains above the pre-pandemic average.
UBS rates St James's Place a buy, with a target price of 1,515p against a closing price of 1,136p on Wednesday.
