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22 April 2021 AJBell AJ Bell plc Q2 trading update AJ Bell plc ( " AJ Bell " or the " Company " ) , one of the UK's largest investment platforms , today issues a trading update in respect of the three months ended 31 March 2021 . Performance overview Total customer numbers increased to 346,797 , up 32 % over the last year and 11 % in the quarter , with total net inflows in the quarter of £ 1.5 billion ( 2020 : £ 1.3 billion ) . Total assets under administration ( " AUA ” ) increased to £ 65.2 billion , up 35 % over the last year and 4 % in the quarter . Platform business AJ Bell's platform business saw continued organic growth in customer numbers , net inflows and AUA : • Platform customer numbers grew by a record 34,223 in the quarter , an increase of 64 % compared to the second quarter of the prior year ( 2020 : 20,872 ) • • Total platform customers closed at 332,276 , up 34 % over the last year and 11 % in the quarter Advised customers of 118,509 , up 14 % over the last year and 6 % in the quarter D2C customers of 213,767 , up 48 % over the last year and 15 % in the quarter Platform net inflows increased by 13 % over the prior year to £ 1.8 billion ( 2020 : £ 1.6 billion ) о Advised net inflows of £ 0.9 billion , in line with the prior year ( 2020 : £ 0.9 billion ) D2C net inflows of £ 0.9 billion , up 29 % on the prior year ( 2020 : £ 0.7 billion ) Platform AUA closed at £ 58.0 billion , up 38 % over the last year and 5 % in the quarter AJ Bell Investments • Net inflows in the quarter were £ 311 million , up 132 % on the prior year ( 2020 : £ 134 million ) Assets under management ( " AUM " ) increased to £ 1.4 billion , up 180 % over the last year and 40 % in the quarter Andy Bell , Chief Executive Officer at AJ Bell , commented : " The run up to the recent tax year - end was our busiest ever , driving strong growth in customer numbers and assets under administration during our second quarter . Our easy - to - use , low - cost platform continues to perform well in both the financial adviser and direct - to - consumer markets . " Our adviser platform saw its largest ever quarterly increase in new customers . This is testimony to our award - winning proposition and the price advantage our customers enjoy compared to other major adviser platforms .