St James's Place hits record AUM after £2.3bn net inflow

St James's Place posted a £2.3bn net inflow last year to reach record funds under management of £21.4bn at end 2009.

The wealth manager, which is 60% owned by Lloyds Banking Group, runs a number of unit trust and life funds - managed by high-profile investment managers such as Invesco Perpetual's Neil Woodford, Paul Cause and Paul Read. At a group level, St James's Place reported 2009 full-year operating profits at the top end of market forecasts. Operating profit on an embedded value basis was £228.9m, up from £204.3m the previous year. The company also saw an increase in new business profits of £155.4m for the year, compared to £123.5m in 2008. St James's Place says in every rolling five year p...