A new proposition which has been branded by its creator as ‘financial Facebook’ has a targeted a launch date in April this year, in “ideal circumstances”.
Malcolm Small, who was director of policy at the Tax Incentivised Savings Association between 2007 and 2014, said he plans to launch an online, membership-based financial community, which will provide guidance.
He told FTAdviser the launch of the site was in response to people starting to think about what their future looks like in terms of later life.
He added the site would provide answers to questions, not just around pensions but all sorts of topics, including housing equity.
Mr Small said: “It is not exactly a rival to Pension Wise. That is not how I would position it - it is very different and we don’t want to conflict with Pension Wise.”
Mr Small said a “handful” of Chartered partners would be recruited and it was essential the site was built correctly rather than just quickly.
“We are recruiting individuals, providers and other users of the site to build it right. It is like a financial Facebook. We get the impression that quite a lot of millennials will be interested, not just those that are about to retire.”
In November, the Wealth Management Association’s annual summit was told that one of the industry’s highest priorities was preparing for how to best service the next generation of investors.
Jonathan Wragg, chief executive at Investec Wealth and Investment, said a tipping point is being reached where most investors will be “digital natives”, adding that firms must think of different ways to engage this demographic, targeting them as they begin to accumulate assets.
Nick Hungerford, director and chief executive at Nutmeg, said 25 per cent of its customers are totally new to investing, while Brewin Dolphin’s head of wealth and investment management Stephen Ford said his firm wants to get to clients earlier and younger, adding the industry has still not got the kind of brand recognition that Amazon or Apple do amongst millennials.
Tony Stenning, savings and investment specialist for fund manager BlackRock, suggested that home ownership comes before pension savings for those born in the early 1980s and the early 2000s – the so-called millennials, or generation Y.
ruth.gillbe@ft.com
