Revenues in Axa’s wealth management business decreased by £101 million to £618 million, down 14 per cent from 2007, which it said was down to consumers’ caution towards longer-term investment, continued stock market volatility and the impact of changes to tax legislation.
Despite lower revenues, AXA outperformed the market across its main wealth product areas. This success was achieved by restructuring the wealth management business which is ideally placed to build on its dominant position in the pensions and investments market and to play a lead industry role post the FSA’s review of retail distribution.
Is advisory arm, recently rebranded Bluefin Advisory Services increased funds under management by 53 per cent to £0.5 billion in 2008.
Nicolas Moreau, group chief executive of Axa UK says: “The poor state of the markets shouldn’t diminish the success we’ve achieved in terms of improving customer satisfaction and I am determined to continue with investments across our business to bring about further change while at the same time maintaining our competitive position.
“The current crisis has demonstrated that Axa UK’s business model is sound and that we are financially strong. Our asset portfolio and solvency margin remain robust in today’s weakened financial environment.”