AJ Bell has reached a new record of £108bn in assets under administration on its platform, a figure up 21% in the last year and 5% in the quarter.

The investment platform also grew its customer base by 20% on last year to 673,000, adding 29,000 more customers for 5% quarterly growth.

AJ Bell was announcing a Q1 trading update covering the three months to 31 December and also reported a year-on-year increase in gross and net inflows across the platform.

Record gross inflows in the group’s Q1 period totalled £4.6bn, up on the £3.6bn it announced in the same quarter a year earlier, while net inflows in the quarter of £1.5bn also represented year-on-year growth from £1.4bn.

The company’s CEO, Michael Summersgill, said the latest inflows were “moderated by temporarily elevated outflows”, driven by uncertainty in the weeks before the Budget in November.

Summersgill had already said earlier this week that the Chancellor’s overhaul of ISAs is “doomed to fail” in its goal of boosting retail investing in the UK, as he called for more clarity from the Government.

“Persistent uncertainty in the lead up to the last two Budgets has become an unwelcome feature of the market, prompting higher levels of assets moving out of pensions and risk based investments,” Summersgill said.

“This is directly at odds with the Government’s stated ambition to boost retail investing. We hope to see a more considered approach to the next fiscal event and urge Government to provide a clear commitment to pension tax stability going forward.”

Summersgill still noted that AJ Bell had delivered a “strong start” to the financial year and suggested its customer growth had reflected “the impact of ongoing investment in our brand and platform propositions”.

“We have started the year with strong momentum,” he added. “The platform market presents significant long-term growth opportunities, and our dual-channel model, supported by continued business investment, ensures we are well-placed to deliver on this opportunity.”

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