St James's Place has set itself an ambitious target for the next five years after posting record figures at the end of 2020.

The Cirencester-based wealth management firm revealed record funds under management of £129.3billion in its annual results, up from £117billion the year before.

Net inflow of funds dropped from £9billion to £8.2billion as profit after tax rose from £146.6million to £262million.

Chief executive Andrew Croft admitted it had been a tough year disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, but he said the company could "look to the future with confidence".

He said: "I would highlight our ambition to deliver growth in new business of around 10 per cent per annum which would see funds under management grow to in excess of £200billion by the end of 2025.

"Growth on this scale will require continued investment, but given the success of our technology initiatives in recent years, we believe overall expense growth can be held to around five per cent per annum."

He said the environment remains challenging despite "moderate growth" in new business at the start of 2021.

"There remain difficult months ahead but as Covid-19 restrictions ease, we are hopeful there will be an economic recovery and we will see a return to more normal growth in new client investments," he said.

The results announcement confirmed St James's Place was paying the withheld 11.22 pence from the final 2019 dividend.