St James's Place, the FTSE 100 wealth manager, said net inflows fell to £570 million in the third quarter from £1.76 billion a year earlier, although funds under management reached a record £242 billion.
Gross inflows, the total new money from clients, were £5.15 billion, down from £5.70 billion.
The company said last year's comparison was exceptionally strong, as clients were active around the introduction of its new charging structure.
Net inflows are gross inflows less money withdrawn by clients.
Funds under management rose from £212.36 billion a year ago, helped by positive investment returns of £1.09 billion in the quarter.
Nine-month picture
Over the first nine months, gross inflows were £15.62 billion, against £16.19 billion a year earlier.
Net inflows were £3.31 billion, compared with £5.59 billion.
That equates to 2.0% of opening funds under management on an annualised basis, down from 3.9%.
Pension funds were the main contributor, with net inflows of £2.17 billion, while investment bonds saw a small net outflow of £30 million.
Retention holds up
Client retention, which measures how much money stays with the company after surrenders and part-surrenders, was 95.1% year to date, against 95.2% last year.
Surrenders and part-surrenders in the quarter rose to £3.08 billion from £2.65 billion, but Mark FitzPatrick, chief executive, said outflows were broadly stable relative to funds under management.
FitzPatrick said advisers had been supporting clients through market volatility and giving guidance ahead of the Autumn Budget.
Strategy update
He said the company remained confident in the long-term opportunity for financial advice in the UK.
St James's Place will give more detail on Amplify, the next phase of its strategy, at full-year results in February.
The embedded value net asset value, an insurance-style measure of the worth of the business, was about £22.85 per share.
