Edinburgh-based funds platform Nucleus Financial Group Limited on Monday published an update on its assets under administration (AUA) in respect of the 12-month period to December 31, 2018. 

Nucleus Financial said it continues to grow AUA, which stood at £13.9 billion as at December 31, up 2.3% over the year “against a challenging market backdrop which saw the FTSE All Share Index decrease by 13% and the FTSE 100 Index decrease by 12.5% during the same period.”

Nucleus Financial said: “Advisers actively using the platform increased by 6% to 1,396 over the year while customer numbers grew by 7% to 93,175.

“Net inflows for the period were impacted by continued investor caution. 

“AUA for the fourth quarter of 2018 fell by 5.5% reflecting a fall in markets overall, with the FTSE All Share Index down 11% and the FTSE 100 Index down by 10.4% in the quarter.

“AUA has since recovered, in line with market movements, to £14.2bn as at 24 January 2019.”

David Ferguson, Nucleus’ founder and CEO, said: “Nucleus has grown strongly in recent years and, despite the challenging market backdrop, I am pleased to report our 12th successive year of growth in AUA, adviser users and customer numbers.

“Having listed the business in Q3 2018 and reorganised our major outsourcing relationships in Q4 2018, we are now focused on accelerating our growth within the sector.”