Adviser platform assets have bounced back from their contraction in the first quarter of the year with growth of 9.2% (£71.6bn) to £850.3bn in Q2, according to the latest data from platform consultancy Fundscape.
Despite the growth in assets, primarily driven by improving stock markets, net sales via adviser platforms fell to £5.9bn in the quarter (Q1 2026 £6.6bn) but were more than double the £2.9bn reported in the final quarter of 2025.
Gross sales held steady at £27bn.
Early-bird ISA business and the scramble to get ahead of April 2027's pension IHT changes kept the advice channel’s net-to-gross ratio above 20% for a second straight quarter.
Pensions did most of the hard work, but advisers were using a broader palette of tax wrappers with bonds leading the charge, showing gross sales up two and a half times since Q2 in 2023.
Source: Fundscape, 20 August 2026
The top 5 platforms by net sales during the second quarter were Quilter, Aviva, Transact, AJ Bell, and 7IM.
Top 5 platforms (adviser channel) by net sales Q226
|
Platform |
£m |
% |
|
Quilter |
2,589 |
44 |
|
Aviva |
1,402 |
24 |
|
Transact |
1,015 |
17 |
|
AJ Bell |
500 |
10 |
|
7IM |
562 |
9 |
Source: Fundscape, 20 August 2026
Total platform sales including D2C platforms topped £50bn for the third quarter running, with Q2 gross sales of £53.2bn. Net sales were £6.9bn, leaving the net/gross ratio for all platforms during the quarter at 12.9%.
Total platform assets at the end of the second quarter were £1,442.9bn, with 9.3% (£123.3bn) growth over the quarter.
Bella Caridade-Ferreira, CEO of Fundscape said: “Quilter, Aviva and Transact are getting service right and are making rain while much of the industry is under a hosepipe ban. Quilter is the standout performer with 44% of adviser platform net sales.
“The summer months will be lazy and sultry, but flows will pick up in September as speculation on Healey's October budget intensifies. And after the drought this country's had, literally and figuratively, a new Budget and a new Prime Minister could be the oasis everyone's looking for. The second half of the year won't match the first, but it'll probably be watertight.”