National advice consolidator Bellpenny is looking to launch a robo-advice service in the second quarter of 2016, Dominic Rose has said.
The marketing and aquisitions director said: “We have got a large number of clients who we think would like to self-select. It is reasonably advanced and I would expect that in the second quarter we will make clear who we are working with and how it is going to work.
“I don’t like the term ‘robo-advice’ – it will be guided advice online with telephone support.
“We have got a big advice gap problem, and I see digital and online advice as a key tool for filling it.”
He added that the company would be working with one or more software companies to deliver the service, although he could not reveal who they would be.
Over the last three and a half years Bellpenny has bought 32 businesses, although Mr Rose said the company would have a slightly quieter 2016 on the acquisition front.
He said: “We will do a lower volume of larger deals, and they will probably be done in the second half of the year. In the first half of the year we want to focus on our client proposition. It is going to be a busy year.”
In November Bellpenny said it was putting 51 jobs up for consultation, with potential redundancies centered around the operations team.
The firm reached £1bn in funds under management in October 2013, just a year after opening for business. The total passed £3.5bn in July 2015 when new chief executive Nigel Stockton was appointed.
Bellpenny’s interest in robo-advice came after Fidelity and EQ Investors announced they were stepping into the robo-advice arena late last year.
In November EQ Investors launched a new online and telephone-based regulated investment advice service. The boutique wealth manager, led by Bestinvest founder John Spiers, stated that it was designed for private investors seeking portfolio management at affordable rates.
At the start of May, LV= launched a regulated online advice service for the retirement income market, in conjunction with online adviser Wealth Wizards.
This followed Just Retirement’s launch in April of a ‘simplified’ advice service designed to help retirees with medium-sized pension funds navigate the pension freedoms.
