British stockbroker AJ Bell has registered a rise in net inflows and customer numbers though the market turbulence caused by the Covid-19 pandemic hit assets under administration (AuA).

The firm revealed this in a Q2 update representing the three-month period ending 31 March 2020.

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AJ Bell reported AuA of £48.3bn as of 31 March 2020, versus £54.7bn at December-end 2019.

The performance was affected by market movements of -£7.7bn.

On a year-on-year basis, AuA rose by 1%.

Net inflows rise

On the bright side, net inflows jumped 30% to £1.3bn from the previous year.

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Clients pulled out £300m from non-platform activities, though the platform business piled on £1.6bn.

Growth in customer numbers

The firm’s total customer number at the end of March 2020 was 262,179, a 22% surge from the prior year and a 9% rise over the quarter.

Advised customers of 103,974 and D2C customers of 144,100 rose 4% and 13%, respectively, over the quarter.

AJ Bell CEO Andy Bell said: “The COVID-19 crisis continues to have a devastating impact on people’s lives and the economic outlook remains uncertain. We have confirmed that we are not furloughing any staff or claiming benefits from any of the Government’s financial support schemes which should be preserved for those companies that need them most.

“We have also launched the AJ Bell Wage War on COVID Fund under the umbrella of the AJ Bell Trust, a UK registered charity, which will benefit charities and causes supporting the COVID-19 efforts.”

AJ Bell Trust has donated £50,000 to charities supporting Covid-19 initiatives.

At the same time, Bell is donating his April, May and June salaries to the fund.

Other board directors, senior management as well as employees have also made similar commitments.