Britons put more money with wealth managers amid Brexit uncertainty

[July 27, 2016]  By Simon Jessop and Maiya Keidan

LONDON (Reuters) - Britons are saving and investing more money with wealth managers as they prepare for an uncertain future following the country's vote to leave the European Union.

St James's Place, Rathbone Brothers, Brewin Dolphin and Jupiter Fund Management, which all rely largely on British customers, said on Wednesday they had seen net inflows into their savings and investment products.

Alongside the uncertainty sparked by last month's "Brexit" vote, investors are worried about the strength of the global economy, and particularly slowing growth in China, as well as the impact of massive central bank monetary policy easing.

SJP, which sells a range of retirement and other saving services, said it had seen a record second quarter for net inflows, up 25 percent year on year, and was on course to meet its growth targets.

"Our stated objective is to grow the business between 15 and 20 percent per annum and since the 24th of June, our business has continued very much in line with those medium-term objectives," Bellamy told Reuters on a call after the firm's forecast-beating results.

Fellow wealth manager Brewin, meanwhile, said total funds under management had risen 2.1 percent in its third quarter to 33.5 billion pounds as it took in an extra 100 million pounds, while Rathbone's total funds rose 4.8 percent in the first half to 30.6 billion pounds, helped by inflows of 259 million pounds.

Asset manager Jupiter, which sells stock and bond funds, said it had seen funds under management rise 4 percent in the first half, boosted by 400 million pounds in inflows - including into its Strategic Bond Fund and UK Absolute Return Strategy - and flows had remained positive since the vote.

Vote Leave supporters holds up Union flags in Westminster after Britain voted to leave on the European Union in London, Britain, June 24, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville

That stands in contrast to the relatively weak flow performance seen by emerging market-focused firms Ashmore and Aberdeen Asset Management, which said recently they had seen net outflows.

The ability to draw in investor cash was taken positively by the market on Wednesday, with shares in St James's Place up 4 percent, among the top FTSE 100 gainers, Brewin Dolphin up 6 percent and the others more than 2 percent.

"People still have the same investments and savings goals, they still need to put money away for retirement, they still want to save tax on their investments, and all of that is supportive of ... investments," said Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at investment adviser Hargreaves Lansdown, which reports in September.

(Editing by Mark Potter)

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