Advised platform assets under management (AUM) continued to rise in the second quarter of 2025, with net sales at their highest level in three years, analysis from The Lang Cat has revealed.

AUM grew by 4.36% quarter-on-quarter to £671.39bn, an increase of 9.51% compared to Q2 2024.

Although gross sales fell by 1.61% from the record high of £22.1bn in Q1 2025, net sales increased from £5.44bn in Q1 to £5.77bn in Q2, the highest level since the second quarter of 2022.

Net sales were supported by outflows falling by 4.11% to £15.96bn, the lowest since the first quarter of 2024.

Research of advisers by The Lang Cat indicated that the trend of growth in platform business had largely carried on and will continue to do so in the third quarter.

The consultancy said it believed this could be a record-breaking year for new business.

Looking at product sales across all channels, ISA gross sales had their best quarter on record, while net sales of £711m were the best since Q2 2022.

There was a return to positive net sales for ISAs for the first time since the second quarter of 2022.

“We’re seeing a really strong year in terms of new business written by advisers on platforms,” commented The Lang Cat senior analyst, Rich Mayor.

“Even more encouraging is that advisers we spoke to said just over half of the business they wrote was new money coming onto platforms, rather than a transfer of existing assets from one to another.

“That’s a good indication of future improved gross and net sales for platforms, and an improvement from when we tested this last year where most of the business being written was transfer business.

“Outflows also fell again this quarter for the second in a row, and we’re seeing some good net flows which could prove all important this year for platform AUM growth if we see spikes in volatility in the second half.

“In terms of the evolution of investments, we’ve heard some increased noise around access to private markets on platform. We’ve tested this with advisers this month and over half said that access to private markets – either on platform or elsewhere – isn’t needed for most of their clients.

“Just under a third thought they were too complex and had concerns around liquidity, and just under one in 20 saw it as an opportunity for their clients, with the preference of access to private markets being on platform.

“That’s not all that much of a surprise to us, AUM in the advised platform space is overwhelmingly in funds and that needle hasn’t really moved over many years.”

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