Press scrutiny of St James’s Place’s fees, adviser treatment, and incentive schemes may have contributed to a slight uptick in withdrawals from the firm over the quarter ending 30 September.

However, the firm was still able to attract a healthy volume of new client assets.

Surrenders over the three-month period from 1 July to 30 September 2019 were up 19 percent to £1.12 billion, from £0.94 billion in the same period during 2018.

The quarter covers a period of intense scrutiny and criticism of the firm, particularly by The Sunday Times, which ran a series of stories criticising its fees...