Q4 data caps off a strong 2024 for advised platforms reports lang cat, despite increase in outflows

Q4 2024 caps off a strong year for advised platforms according to the lang cat’s latest Advised platform market data report, which shows Quilter topping the advised gross sales and net sales tables.

Advised platform assets hit £616.23bn in Q4 2024, up 12.54% YoY, driven by record new business of £20.92bn reports the lang cat. Despite a Budget-driven outflow spike, net sales reached their highest since mid-2022 in Q4. Quilter led with £3.70bn in gross and £1.92bn in net sales. As advisers adapt to tax changes, platform success in 2025 will hinge on product range, support, and trust planning.

Assets across advised platforms increased by 3.82% in Q4 2024 and up 12.54% vs Q4 2023 (£547.60bn), to £616.23bn.

Helping this growth is continued strong new business across the whole of 2024, which peaked in the last quarter of 2024 to £20.92bn – up 42.76% vs. Q4 2023.

The strong new business flows more than offset the increase in outflows, which spiked around the time of the Budget announcement on 30th October. Outflows increased 6.96% compared to the previous quarter, reaching a new height of £16.54bn.

With gross sales growth outpacing the increase in outflows, advised net sales of £4.38bn represent the highest like for like quarterly sales total since Q2 2022, just before outflows started to rise across the board.

From a platform perspective, Quilter, Aviva, Transact end the year as they started it, with all making the top 3 for gross and net advised sales. Quilter has repeatedly broken both its own records and those for the channel and did it again in the last three months of the year. It was the first advised platform to reach £3bn+ in gross sales in Q3 2023 (£3.09bn) and has increased this by 19.81% in Q4 2024. Net sales are up 33.13% over the same period to £1.92bn in Q4 2024.

Rich Mayor ( pictured), senior analyst at the lang cat, comments:

“Last time out we mentioned that we expected a spike in outflows in the final quarter of 2024, before returning to normal and platforms have been telling us that’s the case. The Budget caused a spike in withdrawals particularly in GIAs and pensions, but they’ve dropped off since.

“The proposed changes to IHT and pensions was the biggest surprise in November, and we’ve researched advice professionals to see how they’re thinking of mitigating the changes. Increasing use of onshore bonds, as well as trust planning, and utilising gifting more are the most popular plans on the table at the moment, and all effect platforms.

“Bond sales are on the up in 2024, and while they’re still dwarfed in overall gross sales by those going into pensions and ISA, for example, the nature of the products with regards to tax and withdrawals make them much stickier products for platforms. They’ve been the second-highest product for net sales for a while now.  Some advisers that are waiting to see what happens, exploring other strategies, and some don’t think the proposals will end up being the same by 2027.

“For platforms, we think this means that the more traditional elements of a proposition like product and investment range, as well as technical support and trust options are likely to play a key role in success for 2025 and beyond.” 

*contains estimates