St James's Place Wealth Management saw record funds under management grow to almost £130billion during a strong end to 2020.

The Cirencester firm's update for the last three months revealed an additional £2.29billion at the end of what chief executive Andrew Croft described as "an extraordinary year".

It took the closing funds under management to £129.34billion - a rise of 11 per cent over the course of the year.

Gross inflows of £14.33billion are five per cent lower than 2019.

Mr Croft said: "In the final quarter of what can only be described as an extraordinary year for individuals, families, business and broader societies across the world, St. James's Place delivered another robust set of new business results.

"Given the operating environment since March, it bears testament to the resilience of our business."

He continued: "Sensitive to the challenging external environment for many financial advice businesses across the UK, we decided to slow the pace of our experienced adviser recruitment activity and paused the intake of new students to our academy programme during the year.

"While the current lockdown restrictions remain in place, the operating environment will continue to be challenging.

"The quality of the Partnership and the strength of our client proposition, together with the resilience of the St James's Place community, underpins our confidence in the medium to long-term growth prospects of our business."