Nucleus sees assets rise despite takeover battle

AIM-listed adviser platform and SIPP provider Nucleus, currently subject to a takeover battle, has reported assets under advice up by 8.1% to £17.4bn for Q4 2020. The wrap platform provider said that despite the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic AUA rose 8.1% on the previous quarter and 7.9% year-on-year. Nucleus has been the subject of a bidding war in recent months after major shareholder Sanlam decided to sell its stake. At one point four known bidders entered the race but this has reduced to just one - James Hay/Epiris - after Transact pulled out this week. Despite the uncertainty over future ownership the latest figures do not seem to show any impact on flows. Nucleus said that Q4 gross inflows were £492m, up 31.9% on the previous quarter. Outflows from the platform in Q4 2020 fell by 17.4% compared to Q4 2019 and were down by 22.8% for the full year 2020 compared to 2019. The company said that net inflows for Q4 2020 increased by 35.9% against Q4 2019 to £208m and were up 42% year-on-year in 2020 despite Covid-19 hitting activity over the spring and summer last year. The number of advisers actively using the platform increased by 3.9% in Q4 2020 compared to the previous quarter and a new enterprise relationship agreement was signed with an adviser network. Customer numbers increased by 4.3% year-on-year to over 101,000. The company recently soft-launched a new model portfolio service Nucleus IMX which is due to be promoted more heavily this year. The company also recently acquired fintech OpenWealth. David Ferguson, Nucleus' founder and CEO, said: "Following a great start to the year and given the month-on-month improvement in net inflows since the summer (December alone exceeded all of Q3), our springtime decision to continue investing through the pandemic has allowed us to enter 2021 with great momentum, albeit remaining cognisant of the ongoing uncertainty in the external environment."

Nucleus sees assets rise despite takeover battle

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