10 November 2017

Trading Update

IFG Group plc (the "Company" or the "Group") is a focused financial services group with full market listings in London and Dublin. The Company provides a range of financial solutions through its subsidiaries, James Hay Partnership ("James Hay") and Saunderson House Limited ("Saunderson House"). James Hay is a leading retirement wealth planning platform and Saunderson House is an award winning independent financial adviser. 

IFG Group plc issues the following trading update for the 10-month period to 31 October 2017.

 Highlights

·      The Group continues to perform in line with management expectations as outlined in our Interim Results for H1 2017.

·      The Group has passed two significant milestones in the period, with total Assets under Administration and Advice now over £30bn and more than 60,000 customers now being served across the two businesses.

·      Assets under Administration in James Hay, as at 31 October 2017 increased by 14% to exceed £25bn for the first time (31 December 2016: £22.1bn), with net inflows from new and existing customers of over £2.1bn in the 10 months to 31 October. 

·      The revised pricing model introduced in James Hay earlier in the year has been successfully implemented. New client wins year to date are more than 5,000 (2016: 3,700), with attrition at 6.6% (YTD annualised), in line with expectations.     

·      The reorganisation programme and associated delivery of operating efficiencies in James Hay is on target.

·      The Bank of England Base Rate rise of 0.25% to 0.50% announced on the 2 November 2017 will not have a material impact on James Hay in 2017 but will improve revenues and the operating margin in 2018.

·      Assets under Advice in Saunderson House were £5bn, up 9% from £4.6bn in December 2016.

·      Saunderson House continues to win advisory and discretionary management clients and now serves 2,097 clients, up from 1,956 in December 2016.  This in part reflects the success of the new discretionary management offering.  214 new clients across both advisory and discretionary management services have joined Saunderson House year to date (2016: 182).  Attrition remains immaterial.

·      No further developments with HMRC on the Elysian Fuels matter have occurred since the Interim Results. 

·      The interim dividend of 1.60 pence per share will be paid on 27 November 2017 to shareholders who were on the register on 3 November 2017. 

John Cotter, Group Chief Executive, commented:

"I am delighted that the Group has achieved over £30bn of Assets under Administration and Advice and 60,000 clients, underlining the success of our focused distribution strategy in James Hay and the enhanced product offering in Saunderson House.  We remain confident that both businesses have growth momentum and strong fundamentals, which will lead to an improved financial performance next year."

Enquiries:

John Cotter           Group Chief Executive                                        +44(0) 203 8876181                          

Andrew Price        Group Chief Financial Officer                            +44(0) 203 8876181

This announcement has been issued through the Companies Announcement Service of

the Irish Stock Exchange.