The wealth manager, which forms part of London, Johannesburg and Zimbabwe-listed Old Mutual, boosted its operating profit by £31 million year-on-year.

The UK’s Old Mutual Wealth drove its adjusted operating profit up 26 per cent year-on-year to £151 million ($234 million) in the first half of 2015 following the introduction of British pension freedoms.

The pension reform, which came into force in April to give UK individuals greater control over their retirement pots, led to a 43 per cent year-on-year growth in pension sales on the wealth manager’s platform. Compared to the start of the year, the platform’s pension transfers in progress had soared 133 per cent to the end of June.

The group’s performance over the half-year was further fuelled by its asset management business, Old Mutual Global Investors, which generated an adjusted operating profit of £30 million, up 88 per cent from the first half of last year. OMGI’s funds under management grew seven per cent from the start of 2015 to £22.4 billion at the end of June, while its net client cash flow dipped to £1 billion from £1.1 billion a year ago.

“Old Mutual Global Investors delivered solid returns for its clients during the first half of this year as investment performance across the teams continued to be impressive. Three years on since our creation, assets under management have increased by nearly £10 billion and the business is now a modern, robust and flexible asset management company delivering positive returns for clients and shareholders,” said OMGI’s chief executive, Julian Ide.

“We’ve made progress on a number of fronts. Flows from our international markets are now 40 per cent of the total and comprise 17 per cent of our assets overall. The business continues to be well balanced between third party and Old Mutual Group customers with an asset mix of approximately 50/50.”

Old Mutual Wealth said the integration of Quilter Cheviot, which it acquired in February, was on track. The business contributed £17 million in adjusted operating profit to the half-year results, as well as £17.3 billion in funds under management. Old Mutual Wealth’s funds under management reached £101 billion at the end of June, up 26 per cent from the previous year, as its net client cash flow rocketed 92 per cent to £2.3 billion.

“With further complexities introduced in the summer budget around the taxation of death benefits, we expect to see even greater demand for financial advice as people consolidate their retirement funds with providers offering full access to the freedoms alongside packaged investment solutions that meet the changing investment needs in later life,” said Old Mutual Wealth’s chief executive, Paul Feeney.