Karen Chan
Strategy & Investor Relations Director

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for attending the DFI Retail Group 2025 Full Year Results Presentation. I’m Karen Chan, Strategy and Investor Relations Director. Joining us today is Scott Price, Group Chief Executive; and Tom Van der Lee, Group Chief Financial Officer, who will be providing remarks on our full year results, followed by a Q&A session. Today’s presentation is being webcast in its entirety. In addition, the full text of our results announcement and slide presentation are uploaded on to our IR website.

And before we start, I would like to remind you of the following regarding information to be provided during the presentation. The information about to be presented is for information purposes only and is not intended to be investment advice for any person. There’s no intention to imply for any dealings in any securities. There may be forward-looking statements mentioned in the presentation materials, which include statements regarding our intent, belief, expectation with respect to DFI Retail Group businesses operations, market conditions, et cetera. You’re expressly advised not to rely on these forward-looking statements as they are subjective views, which are subject to risks and uncertainties.

And with that, I’ll pass it over to Scott. Scott, please.

Scott Price
Group CEO & Director

Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Karen. A pleasure to be here talking about our full year of 2025 results and also sharing with you some of the insights that we gleaned from the second half of

Wealth management firm lifted its dividend, with shares rising 1.8 per cent in morning trading

Wealth management business Quilter posted record net inflows and increased its dividend, as clients continue to turn to professional financial guidance in greater numbers.

Assets under management and administration (AUMA) surged 18 per cent to £141.2bn from £119.4bn in the previous year.

The increase was fuelled by an 83 per cent jump in net inflows to £8.7bn, alongside a favourable market contribution.

Turnover edged up five per cent, as higher management fee income was partly counterbalanced by reduced investment returns generated on shareholder capital.

Pre-tax profit reached £207m, up from £196m the year before, as reported by City AM.

The board unveiled a £100m share buyback scheme to be completed over the rest of the year, and put forward a final dividend of 4.3 pence, taking the full-year total to 6.3 pence per share.

The firm also confirmed that its bill for compensating clients who paid for financial advice but didn’t receive it will be £20m lower than initially anticipated, having previously earmarked £76m following scrutiny from the City regulator.

Shares climbed 1.8 per cent in early morning dealings to 190.2 pence.

Rae Maile, analyst at Panmure Liberum, said: “The potential for future growth is unchanged given the usual certainties of death and taxes.

“AI cannot augment but not, we are confident, replace personal advice because there are simply too many questions most of which most clients do not know that they do not know.

“We have long stressed that there will be many ways to win in Wealth and Quilter has a variety of options.”

The firm said its Affluent and High Net Worth divisions outperformed their market rivals for levels of inflows throughout the year.

The Affluent division recorded a 22 per cent increase in AUMA to £107.6bn, with its Quilter channel seeing net inflows climb to £2.8bn from £2.3bn.

Its Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) channel reported net inflow of £5.8bn, up from £3bn, reflecting an expanded market share of new business alongside winning assets from rival platforms.

Meanwhile, the High Net Worth division saw net inflows of £0.7bn, but Steven Levin, chief executive officer of Quilter, said that it can “improve performance” and attract a broader customer base.

Levin observed that the “business is well placed to be a winner” from the changes that are reshaping the face of the wealth management industry, and boost overall growth.

The transformation of UK personal tax legislation, including both the thresholds that apply for higher earners on pension contributions and introduction of inheritance tax on pensions from April 2027, has “increased the need for personalised financial advice”. The upheaval resulted in heightened adviser activity, as clients looked to reassess their current financial strategies, with the firm also anticipating a substantial rise in intergenerational wealth transfer over the coming decades, boosting demand.

Levin additionally recognised the transformation from being a nation of savers to a nation of investors, with the organisation “well-positioned” to satisfy this requirement.

The firm is also currently seeking approval from the Financial Conduct Authority to deploy its ‘Targeted Support’ framework, which will enable it to provide personalised recommendations without necessitating full, regulated advice.

He stated: “Our goal is for the Quilter brand to be recognised across UK retail financial services as a customer champion and a trusted destination for pensions, investment services and advice.”

The company anticipates high single digit to double digit growth in profit over the coming year, as it expects elevated costs stemming from pursuing growth opportunities in the marketplace and implementing the ‘Targeted Support’ scheme.

Maile commented: “We do expect net flows to continue to be delivered, and for profit growth to continue, but with the company rightly seeking to invest in future growth that profit growth will, initially, be below market expectations.”

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When BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust crossed $50 billion in assets under management, it became one of the fastest-growing ETFs in history. Institutional and retail investors alike poured money into a product that promised exposure to Bitcoin without the complexity of direct ownership—no private keys to manage, no custody arrangements to evaluate, no technical learning curve.

But a question lingered beneath the convenience: how do you actually know the Bitcoin is there?

Traditional ETF verification relies on auditors, custodians, and regulatory filings—intermediaries that investors trust to do their jobs correctly. Bitcoin exists on a public blockchain where every holding is theoretically visible to anyone who knows where to look. This creates an unprecedented opportunity for independent verification that simply doesn’t exist for traditional assets. The question is whether investors know how to use it.

The traditional trust model

Conventional ETF investors trust a chain of intermediaries, each with professional obligations and regulatory oversight.

The fund manager reports daily holdings. An independent auditor verifies those reports on a periodic basis—typically quarterly, sometimes annually. A regulated custodian holds the underlying assets with insurance and operational controls. The SEC oversees the structure, requiring specific disclosures and imposing penalties for misrepresentation. Multiple parties, each with reputations and legal standing to protect, create layers of assurance that add up to reasonable confidence.

This model has worked adequately for traditional assets over many decades. Gold ETFs rely on vault audits and bar lists. Bond ETFs rely on custodial records and trustee reports. The trust is distributed across institutions, and the system’s track record—while not perfect—has generally justified investor confidence.

Bitcoin ETFs initially adopted the same infrastructure framework. Coinbase Custody holds the underlying Bitcoin for most major issuers, providing institutional-grade security and insurance. Big Four accounting firms provide attestation services. Familiar intermediaries wrap the novel asset in traditional assurance mechanisms.

But Bitcoin offers something that gold bars and Treasury bonds don’t: the ability to verify holdings directly, in real time, without relying on any intermediary’s word.

On-chain verification explained

Every Bitcoin transaction is recorded on a public ledger that anyone can examine. If you know which addresses belong to an ETF’s custodian, you can check the balance yourself—not once a quarter when audit reports come out, but continuously, every ten minutes when new Bitcoin blocks are confirmed.

This isn’t theoretical capability—it’s practical reality. ETF tracking tools have identified the custodial wallets associated with major Bitcoin ETF issuers. Analysts monitor these addresses continuously, comparing on-chain balances to reported holdings and flagging any discrepancies.

How verification works in practice:

1. Identify custody wallets. Through a combination of transaction flow analysis, timing correlation with known ETF creation/redemption activity, and occasional public disclosures, determine which blockchain addresses the ETF uses for custody.
2. Monitor balances continuously. Track holdings in real time using Arkham dashboards or similar tools. Watch for additions when the ETF reports inflows, reductions when it reports outflows, and any movements that don’t correspond to reported activity.
3. Compare to reported data. Cross-reference on-chain balances against daily holdings reports, NAV calculations, and periodic audit attestations. Look for discrepancies in timing, amounts, or patterns that might indicate problems.

If an ETF reported holding 100,000 Bitcoin but the identified custody wallets showed only 80,000, the discrepancy would be visible to anyone watching. The gap might have innocent explanations—operational timing, wallet rotation, transactions in progress—but it would invite scrutiny and demand explanation.

What verification reveals

On-chain ETF monitoring has produced several insights beyond simple confirmation that reported holdings exist.

Custody patterns vary significantly across issuers. Different ETF sponsors manage their Bitcoin differently. Some concentrate holdings in a small number of addresses, making tracking straightforward. Others distribute across many wallets, complicating analysis but potentially improving security. Some move coins frequently for operational reasons; others let holdings sit untouched for extended periods. These operational differences aren’t apparent in marketing materials or regulatory filings.

Flows precede official filings. When ETFs buy or sell Bitcoin as part of creation/redemption processes, the transactions appear on-chain before daily holdings reports are published. Traders monitoring custodial addresses can observe accumulation or distribution in real time, potentially identifying flows hours before they’re officially disclosed.

Reported data has generally matched on-chain reality. For the major issuers, independent verification has largely confirmed reported holdings. This is reassuring—the traditional trust model appears to be working—but the capability to catch discrepancies provides discipline that wouldn’t otherwise exist. Issuers know they’re being watched, which may itself contribute to careful compliance.

The broader principle

Bitcoin ETF verification represents a specific case of a broader phenomenon: blockchain transparency enabling new forms of accountability and verification.

The same principle applies to corporate treasury holdings. When Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) claims to hold over 500,000 Bitcoin, that claim can be verified against identified corporate wallets—not just trusted based on earnings call commentary.

It applies to exchange reserves. The question of whether customer deposits actually exist on exchanges—dramatically relevant after the FTX collapse—can be addressed through proof-of-reserves attestations that leverage blockchain transparency.

It applies to stablecoin backing. Skeptics questioning whether USDT or USDC are actually backed by equivalent dollar reserves can examine on-chain stablecoin supply and compare to disclosed reserve holdings.

On-chain data provides verification capability unavailable for traditional assets. The skill is knowing how to access and interpret it.

For investors evaluating Bitcoin ETFs—or any entity claiming significant cryptocurrency holdings—platforms like Arkham Exchange make independent verification accessible alongside trading capabilities. The traditional trust model hasn’t been replaced, but it’s been supplemented by something new: the ability to check for yourself.

As on-chain verification becomes standard practice among sophisticated investors, it may influence competitive dynamics among ETF issuers. Sponsors that make verification easy—through clearer wallet identification, better alignment between on-chain activity and disclosures, or proactive transparency—may attract assets from verification-conscious investors. Expect more sophisticated verification tools and potentially regulatory recognition that blockchain-based audit capabilities represent a genuine advancement over traditional attestation models.

Dharmesh Shah, Head – Technical Research, ICICI Securities

With the Nifty falling below the psychological mark of 25,000, a strong support is placed in the 24,400-24,300 zone, which is a confluence of the 20-month exponential moving average (EMA)-held since the post-Covid lows-and the 80% retracement of the May-25 to Jan-26 rally (23,935-26,373). Meanwhile, on the upside, 25,200 would act as immediate resistance.

In the last four decades, there have been six major geopolitical escalations. On each occasion, a major bottom was formed once anxiety around the event settled down. Investing in such panic reactions with a long-term mindset has been rewarding. In the current scenario, post the knee-jerk reaction, we believe the market would stabilise.

We advise that dips should be capitalised on to build quality portfolios from a medium- to long-term perspective. Pullback options would remain open as long as Nifty holds the key support threshold of 24,100.

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Ruchit Jain, Vice-President, Motilal Oswal Financial Services
The Nifty had already breached its 200-day EMA support of 25,240 at the end of last week, and negative global news flows led to a breach of the psychological support of 25,000 as well. The breach of supports one after another indicates a near term downtrend for our markets. The immediate supports for Nifty are placed at 24570 and 24330 which is August 2025 swing low.
The near-term trend remains negative, but the global news flows are likely to dominate the short-term trend for the equity markets. Global geopolitical tensions, rising Crude prices, FII selling and depreciating Rupee are all negative factors for equity markets. Thus, markets are likely to trade with higher volatility. Until the index holds below 25,000-25,100, weakness could be seen towards the 24,400-24,350 zones, while hurdles have shifted to 25,100 and then 25,250. Amol Athawale, VP – Technical Research, Kotak Securities
Currently, the market is trading significantly below both short-term and medium-term averages, and on daily charts, it appears to be in a weak formation, indicating a largely negative outlook.

We are of the view that for positional traders, 24,600 would act as a crucial support zone. If the market slips below this level, the correction could continue until 24,300. Further downside may also persist, potentially dragging the index to 24,000.

On the flip side, 25,000 remains the crucial resistance zone for the bulls. The current market texture is extremely volatile, and is expected to remain volatile in the near future.