Wealth management group St James's Place PLC have reported a "solid set of financial results for the first six months of 2019."

The Cirencester-based FTSE 100 company have record funds under management of £109.3 billion, up from £96.6 billion for the first half of 2019.

The results for the first six months of 2019 showed gross inflow of funds of £7.4 billion - slightly down from £7.9 billion for the same time last year.

Net inflow of funds of £4.4 billion was also down on the previous year (£5.2 billion), while the company reported strong retention of client funds of 96 per cent.

The slight downturn in some of the inflow figures can be partly put down to investor confidence being tested by the ongoing uncertainty over Brexit.

The majority of St James's Place investors are UK based, chief executive Andrew Croft said that the results were "solid" in spite of the uncertainty.

He said: Given the uncertain macro-economic and political environment that continues to prevail in the UK, I am pleased to report a solid set of results for the first six months of 2019, once again demonstrating the resilience of the St. James's Place business.

"Whilst our new business continues to perform well compared to others in the wealth management sector, we are not immune to the challenging external factors that prevailed during the first half of the year.

"Consequently, gross new inflows for the period, at £7.4 billion, were some 7 per cent lower than the first half of 2018, and we are encouraged that gross flows improved in the second quarter versus the first quarter.

Importantly, the continued strong retention of existing client funds meant that we attracted £4.4 billion of net inflows for the period, equating to 4.6 per cent of opening funds under management, 9.2per cent on an annualised basis.

"These positive net flows, together with the recovery in investment markets, increased funds under management over the period by 14 per cent to a record £109.3 billion.

Experience tells us that whilst inflows may be impacted from time to time by external factors that are beyond our control, our clients' financial planning requirements remain unchanged and if anything, the need for advice is more pronounced in times of uncertainty.

"Therefore, in the short term as the current external environment remains uncertain, confidence towards investing may remain tempered. However, it is at times like this that relationships between client and adviser are strengthened.

"Looking further ahead, the fundamental financial planning requirements of individuals remain considerable whilst, at the same time, the availability of high quality professional financial advice continues to be limited.

"We are therefore confident that the strength, depth and quality of the growing Partnership, together with the investments we are making in the business and our distinctive investment management approach, mean that we remain well placed to continue to grow our business."