SEI increased its assets under administration (AUA) by 25 per cent in 2016, with year-over-year net flows in its UK private banking business rising by 21 per cent.
The business, which provides outsourced investment processing technology for private banks and wealth management firms through the SEI Wealth Platform, ended the year with AUA at GBP31.6 billion, up from GBP25.2 billion in 2015 – an increase of 25 per cent.
In 2016 SEI also added WHIreland, Netwealth, and Munnypot to its client base and extended contracts with Danske Bank and Veritas Investment Management.
SEI’s data reveals that the 2016 ISA season was slower than expected, with flows 27 per cent lower than the previous year. The data derived from the SEI Wealth Platform also reveals the strength of investor sentiment with the business witnessing a slowdown in flows around the UK’s decision to leave the European Union in June last year, followed by a strong recovery in flow volumes by the end of the year.
Brett Williams (pictured), managing director, SEI Wealth Platform, UK Private Banking, says: “Our year end results demonstrate strong growth for our existing clients in 2016, despite significant market volatility and a challenging backdrop for wealth management firms. It is particularly pleasing to have secured a number of new clients across a variety of segments during a year in which we also completed the re-contracting of all of our existing UK clients. Our pipeline of new business remains very strong and we expect to announce additional partnerships in the coming months.
“Wealth managers across the sector are seeing significant growth opportunities, yet with an environment of increased regulation and a more digitally demanding consumer, it has never been more costly or risky to provide advice. Our objective is to ensure that our clients are able to maximise these opportunities whilst minimising cost and mitigating risk. We feel we are well positioned to capitalise on the changing market dynamics ahead of us in 2017.”
