IOOF Holdings Limited (ASX: IFL) shares are flying this morning after the financial advice and wealth management business shocked the market by revealing a bumper quarter of net fund inflows across its financial advice and portfolio or estate administration businesses.
IOOF CEO Renato Mota commented, "This has been our best quarter of inflows recorded across IOOF's platforms and financial advice businesses since June 2018. Pleasingly, it demonstrates the strong organic growth momentum achieved in a challenging year for the industry."
The CEO is not kidding in calling the last year 'challenging' for IOOF with the fallout from the Royal Commission and APRA's stunning December 2018 demand that it effectively sack half of its senior management team including the CEO, CFO, chairperson, company secretary, and head of legal for breaching their fiduciary obligations to superannuation members.
Subsequent to APRA's application to the courts to have all of these staff thrown off from working on APRA-regulated entities the management team at IOOF has seen a radical overhaul.
IOOF's ability to organically grow funds under advice or administration 5.9% or $7.5 billion over the year then is impressive in the context of the other embarrassments.
The stock is 8% higher to $5.93 today, but still down around 35% over the past year.
Elsewhere in the hybrid financial services space the likes of Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF) and Pendal Group Ltd (ASX: PDL) have also handed investors a disappointing year.
