The wealth manager recorded £700m net inflow of funds under management, bringing the total to £31bn and matching its 10% annual target.
Chief executive David Bellamy (pictured) told IFAonline while current advisers accounted for most of the growth, recruitment was a high priority.
“We have a 2% market share, so there is still room for growth,” he said. “We aspire to grow the partnership [adviser numbers] between 5% and 7% per annum, so that’s putting on close to 100 advisers per year.”
Central to the firm’s growth plans is a private client proposition, due to launch later this year to target the high net worth sector.
While some independent advisers are initially cautious about joining the firm, set to be restricted in 2013, small firms face a “huge challenge” posed by the Retail Distribution Review, Bellamy said.
“Increasingly IFAs are seeing there is a huge challenge to the independence definition as set out by the regulator, what’s expected of small and medium sized IFAs to touch all aspects of the market.
“The realism that restricted is not that restricted, you’re just adopting a different proposition for clients, and more and more IFAs are looking at SJP and saying this is the preeminent place to be if you’re looking at the restricted space.
“People have to come to terms with the way we do business – the regulatory oversight, the compliance – but it’s just transition from one place to another.
