A new online consumer advice business has been launched today (26 August) by Chris Williams, ex-chief executive officer of Ashcourt Rowan Financial Planning and board director at the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP), with the aim of making advice more accessible.
Wealth Horizon will offer advice online to those with a minimum investment of £1,000 and with an annual management charge of just 0.75 per cent, according to a statement.
The Bristol-based company is led by Chris Williams, ex-chief executive officer of Ashcourt Rowan Financial Planning. Mr Williams is also currently a board director at the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP).
Research cited by the firm suggests there are 11m people currently managing their own investments, which it says is largely due to cost and lack of access to good advice. Overall there are 23m ‘DIY’ investors in the UK, Wealth Horizon said.
The new firm claims to end this ‘advice gap’ with initially no cost until the point of investing.
The firm said in a statement: “From today, investors will be able to experience the whole advice process online should they so wish. Without speaking to an adviser, each investor can receive regulated advice and build a tailored portfolio based on their individual risk profile.”
Chris Williams, chief executive officer of Wealth Horizon, said: “Our proposition has been built around the importance of making advice more accessible and affordable to those who feel alienated because they are unwilling or unable to pay high fees associated with traditional advice.
“The Retail Distribution Review left a hole in the market and many people have been left without access to advice. The advice gap exists because there was never a service that satisfied the needs of every investor. There is now. There is no longer an advice gap, just those investors that have not visited our site yet.
“There may be other companies that offer aspects of the investment process online, but we are the first to offer a complete journey from initial online advice, through to consultation and fund management.”
Research conducted by Atomik Research out of a sample of 1,005 people surveyed in August 2014 showed that that the top reason for investors to choose to go ‘DIY’ at 60 per cent that investors felt comfortable managing their own finances.
This was followed by the belief that financial advisers are too expensive at 39 per cent, while not trusting strangers with investments came in third at 20 per cent. A total of 13 per cent did not want to discuss finances with a stranger and 10 per cent did not know how to find a good financial adviser.
Research by lobbyist Gary Heath has suggested that the RDR could leave as many as 20m without access to advice, including those ‘orphaned’ by advisers who have left or will exit the industry as well as those clients whose advisers are unable to service them on an ongoing basis due to costs.
