Quilter: Continues to capture inflows from St. James’s Place’s client departures and adviser exits. WHSmith: Arrival of Relay at Heathrow poses a challenge to WH Smith’s near-monopoly in travel essentials; margin pressure increases as airports introduce more competitive tender processes. Renault: Mix of hybrids and EV has helped stabilise performance;Potential recurring software revenue. LSEG: LSEG Everywhere could see income compression in the short term;capital allocated to share buybacks would be better spent on consolidatingthe financial infrastructure space.

After interviewing a number of executives in the financial space, Max Harper, Senior Analyst at Third Bridge made a series of remarks regarding Quilter, informed by insights hearing from industry experts:

Quilter reported record net inflows of £3bn in Q1, proving to the market that their model can perform amid geopolitical turbulence, with total AuMA (Assets Under Management and Administration) coming in at £141.9bn, up 18.65% year-on-year.

Our experts predict Quilter should continue to capture inflows, particularly from St. James's Place, driven by both client departures and advisor exits. Client exits are linked to adjustments in SJP's charging structure, which brings them in line with competitors, and removes exit penalties, enabling unsatisfied clients to explore options elsewhere.

Our experts predict that advisor exits from SJP could rise due to a weak culture linked to their business sale and purchase scheme. The removal of exit charges allows these advisors to take their clients with them, estimated at up to 25–50% of an advisor's book could move to players such as Quilter. Furthermore, contrary to what SJP management is saying, roughly 50% of those leaving are likely individuals SJP would want to hold onto, with Quilter and True Potential seen as the two primary winners.



Max Harper also comments on LSEG

LSEG spent their FY25 results highlighting how AI is an enabler for their business, vs a threat to positive market reaction over the time period following. Our experts agree with management broadly, highlighting that LSEG everywhere allows them to cover multiple leading horses in the race, in the form of LLMs such as Claude, where LSEG wouldn’t have the budget to compete on their own platform.

LSEG could see income compression as clients shift from per-seat licenses to usage-based AI revenues, with Phase 1 up to 2027, offering stable revenues, with early API revenues. 2027 onwards could see income pressure, with AI benefits being felt, and AI cutting seat-based revenue. Phase 3, as early as 2029, should unveil winners, with our experts predicting LSEG could be better positioned, based on their LSEG everywhere strategy, as LSEG and competitors such as Bloomberg, S&P, and Factset, adapt to a AI usage-driven world.

Despite this, concerns exist around LSEG’s allocation of capital, with share buybacks potentially signalling LSEG as a value play, over a tech play. Our experts believe capital required for share buybacks would be better spent on consolidating its position in the financial infrastructure space to help build a five to ten-year competitive moat around its technology, alongside AI investment to further cement leadership.

Market concerns around AI native platforms replicating data are possible to 70% of LSEG’s data, though the final 30% is where the real value sits. Furthermore, banks are encouraged to stick with tier one firms such as LSEG, due to regulatory moats such as DORA, and high switching costs with long timelines.



For the automotive EV space, Orwa Mohamad Analyst at Third Bridge comments on Renault:

Our experts say Renault’s mix of hybrids and electric vehicles has helped stabilise performance at a time when competitors are more exposed to EV volatility.

Margin pressure is expected to intensify into 2026, particularly in the EV segment. Our experts say Renault should avoid being drawn into an aggressive price war with Chinese EV makers. Instead, the focus should be on cost control and efficiency. The integration of LFP batteries could reduce EV costs by around 20 to 25 percent, while shorter product development cycles are seen as critical to preserving profitability.

The new Clio is expected to account for roughly 20 to 25 percent of Renault’s volumes in 2026. However, our experts say its contribution alone will not be enough to materially lift margins on a per-unit basis.

Renault hopes to use recurring software revenue as a new stream of revenue and target 20% but our experts say this goal may be overly ambitious, noting that even Tesla's subscription model generates only hundreds of millions rather than the billions required to reach such a threshold.



Turning to the retail sector, Yanmei Tang, Senior Analyst at Third Bridge made a series of remarks regarding WHSmith.

Our experts say WH Smith is entering a more subdued phase of growth in its core UK travel business, with like for like sales expected to rise only in the low single digits of around 2 to 4 percent. This marks a clear slowdown from historical levels.

The group’s long standing dominance in airport retail is approaching a turning point. The arrival of Relay in Heathrow Terminal 2 represents the first meaningful competitive challenge to WH Smith’s near monopoly in UK travel essentials. This shift comes at a critical time, with a number of major airport contracts including Edinburgh, Glasgow and Bristol set to expire over the next five years, exposing the company to potential share loss or the need to bid more aggressively to retain sites.

Our experts say this growing competition is likely to put structural pressure on profitability. Store contribution margins of around 15 percent have historically been supported by limited competition, but airports are now seeking a greater share of economics through higher rents and more competitive tender processes.

On the strategic side, WH Smith is looking to drive average transaction value through expansion into health and beauty, particularly following the exit of Boots from parts of Heathrow. Our experts say this opportunity is likely to be concentrated in major international hubs, where brand loyalty to Boots is weaker.

Regulation is adding another layer of pressure. Our experts say new restrictions on high fat, salt and sugar products have disproportionately impacted WH Smith, given its reliance on impulse purchases and multi buy promotions to drive basket size. The removal of these levers is weighing on volumes and forcing greater reliance on pricing, making it harder to sustain growth in transaction value over time.