Direct-to-consumer platform Strawberry Invest has acquired the clients of Fundsdirect, the UK’s first online fund supermarket, in a deal with Royal London.
The transaction will see just over £15m of assets initially transfer to Strawberry Invest, and the firm said that there will be potential for this figure to increase to £21m over the coming 12 months.
Additionally, over 400 clients will be added to Strawberry’s existing client base with the prospect of a further 400 accounts moving over in the next year.
Strawberry Invest said that the deal will provide increased scale to its offering, broadening the reach to a greater number of investors and meaning a reduction of costs to existing Fundsdirect clients by an average of 12.5 per cent.
James Priday, founder and managing director of Strawberry Invest, said: “We believe that Fundsdirect is a great fit with Strawberry and we are pleased to be able to offer clients an enhanced platform and level of service.
“We remain committed to offering a simple and low-cost way for investors to save money and this deal with Fundsdirect further strengthens our commitment to this goal.”
Jon Taylor, managing director of Fundsdirect, added that the sale represents a good outcome for our clients. “From our perspective the sale allows us to be completely focussed on delivering the best possible service to our clients in the intermediated market.”
ruth.gillbe@ft.com, peter.walker@ft.com
