LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) - AJ Bell reported

record assets under administration of 80.3 billion pounds

($100.23 billion) on Thursday, up 5% in the three months to

end-March and 17% higher than the same period in 2023, pointing

to signs of rebounding sentiment among investors.

The British investment platform business also said customer

numbers increased by 19,000 in the quarter, taking total

customers to 503,000, up 11% in the last year and 4% in the

quarter.

Quarterly net inflows to its platform business rose 33% year

on year to 1.6 billion pounds. Meanwhile, Q2 assets under

management rose to 5.8 billion pounds, up 49% over the year.

The company said improving retail investor sentiment helped

to deliver 1.4 billion pounds of gross inflows in March alone,

a new monthly record for the business.

"Surpassing half a million platform customers is a

significant milestone for the business which reflects the

continued success of our dual-channel model," Michael

Summersgill, Chief Executive Officer at AJ Bell, said.

The firm listed in 2018 with just under 200,000 platform

customers.

"We remain committed to providing low-cost easy-to-use

products that can be trusted by customers and advisers, and our

continued investment into our customer propositions puts us in

an excellent position to deliver further strong organic growth

in the future," Summersgill said.

AJ Bell has attempted a slew of fee reductions to reel in

new business, and after the UK financial watchdog stepped up

warnings to investment advisers to provide better value for

money to customers.

Since April 1, AJ Bell said it had reduced custody fees for

advised customers, halved its headline dealing fee for retail

clients and increased the interest rates payable on cash

balances held across all products.

($1 = 0.8012 pounds)