London, May 2, 2026, 22:02 BST
- St. James’s Place has acquired 249,168 shares for cancellation, following shareholder approval of its buyback authority.
- First-quarter funds under management dropped to £216.94 billion, prompting the move.
- In London, shares ended Friday at 1,209.50p, slipping 0.74%.
St. James’s Place Plc snapped up 249,168 of its own shares for cancellation on April 30, pushing ahead with a capital-return effort that’s under new scrutiny after a turbulent week for its stock and client flows. Average price: 1,204.0052 pence per share, according to a filing Friday. Trades ranged between 1,169.0000p and 1,225.5000p.
This is key at the moment, with SJP working to reassure investors about its capital discipline, even as doubts swirl over its flows following the new charging model. Sure, a buyback will cut the share count and could give a lift to EPS if profits don’t slip, but it won’t solve sluggish markets or lukewarm client demand on its own.
After Thursday’s annual meeting, where shareholders signed off on a 12.00p final dividend per share and granted buyback authorization, the company moved ahead with its latest purchase. Support for the share buybacks was nearly unanimous, with 99.99% approval, according to the AGM filing.
SJP said it will cancel the latest batch of shares, putting the new total ordinary shares outstanding at 517,948,122. In a separate filing on voting rights, covering the position as of April 30, the company reported total voting rights at 518,929,393 and confirmed it doesn’t hold any shares in treasury. That figure is what investors use to determine if their stakes must be disclosed under UK regulations.
SJP’s buyback forms part of a broader programme capped at 122.6 million pounds, which kicked off on March 2 and wraps up by Aug. 31 at the latest. Back in March, the company said Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc would handle the repurchases, with the aim strictly to cut St. James’s Place’s capital.
Flows are still the sticking point. On April 29, SJP reported gross inflows climbed to 5.23 billion pounds for the first quarter, up from 5.14 billion a year ago. But net inflows—new client money less withdrawals—edged down to 1.53 billion pounds, compared with 1.69 billion. Funds under management stood at 216.94 billion pounds, down from 220.01 billion at the end of 2025. “A good first quarter,” Chief Executive Mark FitzPatrick said, though he noted that falling global markets weighed on FUM. St. James’s Place
Opinions diverged over the way the market responded, not so much over the figures themselves. Jefferies’ Julian Roberts found the selloff “cannot be explained” by just a 1% FUM miss, calling the drop overdone. Panmure Liberum’s Abid Hussain highlighted solid client retention, noting there’s still no evidence of accelerated outflows, even with the fee tweaks. For UBS, Nasib Ahmed saw the FUM shortfall as the real sentiment driver but argued the shares deserved only a “small negative reaction.” Proactiveinvestors UK
The stock wrapped up Friday at 1,209.50p, slipping 0.74% as volumes spiked on results and the AGM. Sharecast pegged the market cap near 6.28 billion pounds at the bell.
This competitive angle matters. UK wealth managers face scrutiny over their ability to keep net inflows steady as markets fluctuate and clients push back on fees; RBC flagged that investors are focusing most on flow updates coming out of SJP and Brooks Macdonald, though it still holds positive views on Quilter and Rathbones.
There’s no mystery here: buybacks and dividends might cushion shareholders, but if markets drop again, or pension flows slow, or the business shifts toward lower-margin products, SJP’s FUM and earnings could stay under pressure. SJP’s own analyst consensus, using Visible Alpha estimates, shows 2026 net inflows projected at 6.4 billion pounds and FUM at 234.4 billion pounds, so the next round of trading updates will be critical.
