Why the Netwealth (ASX:NWL) share price is charging higher

In morning trade, the Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL) share price is charging higher.

At the time of writing, the wealth management platform provider's shares are up 3% to $14.88.

Why is the Netwealth share price charging higher?

Investors have been buying Netwealth's shares following the release of its third quarter update this morning.

That update reveals that at the end of March, Netwealth's Funds Under Administration (FUA) reached $41.8 billion. This represents a $3 billion or 7.8% increase since the end of December, including a positive market movement of $0.8 billion.

It also represents an increase of $14 billion or 50.1% compared to the prior corresponding period, including a positive market movement of $5.7 billion.

This means that Netwealth recorded FUA net inflows of $2.3 billion for the March quarter, bringing its year to date total to $6.7 billion. But management doesn't expect it to stop there. It is guiding to full year FUA net inflows of approximately $9 billion.

Things were equally positive for its Funds Under Management (FUM). At the end of March, Netwealth's FUM stood at $10.5 billion. This was an increase of $1.2 billion or 12.7% for the March quarter and $4.2 billion or 66.4% since this time last year.

Finally, its Managed Account balance reached $8.7 billion at 31 March 2021. This is an increase of $3.7 billion or 73.1% over the prior corresponding period.

Platform performance

According to the release, Netwealth continues to lead the industry for FUA net inflows, as reported in the Plan for Life December 2020 quarter platform market update.

In fact, for the eleventh consecutive quarter, Netwealth recorded the largest FUA net inflows on a 12-months trailing basis. It also achieved the largest quarterly FUA net inflows of $2.6 billion for the December 2020 quarter.

As a result,  Netwealth's market share increased to 4.3% at 31 December 2020. This was up 1.1% for the 12 months to 31 December 2020. This means Netwealth is the 7th largest and the fastest growing platform provider in Australia.