Automated investment platform Fundment has branched into pensions, and is offering a low-cost self-invested personal pension (Sipp).
According to the platform's bosses, the new service, offered in partnership with Liberty Sipp, enables IFAs to advise clients on a Sipp in less than 10 minutes.
Ola Abdul, chief executive and founder of Fundment, told FTAdviser that firm’s new offering combines the Sipp product and the investment management in a single fee.
He said: "Not all providers necessarily combine that."
The new Sipp has a sliding cost scale.
For less than £50,000, the fee will be 0.35 per cent a year; this cost drops to 0.2 per cent for funds up to £150,000, and over this value the fee is 0.2 per cent.
The price is all inclusive, providing the Sipp wrapper, investment management, custody and all transactions.
Only available for advised clients, the platform will allow them to see their pension pot’s valuation and performance 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Mr Abdul said: "Fundment’s mission is to put more power into the hands of advisers.
"We listened to what IFAs told us [when they said] they wanted and built a platform that allows them to seamlessly assess their clients’ needs and manage their portfolios in a cost-effective way."
Fundment is a discretionary fund manager which received authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in April 2016, and went live last February after a period of testing.
The investment for the new retirement product comes from its third funding round last August.
The company received an undisclosed amount by NFT Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Gothenburg-based Collector Bank.
According to John Fox, managing director of Liberty Sipp, Fundment is a natural partner for the company.
He said: "They share our drive to offer a simple, transparent and efficient product that drives down costs and empowers advisers."
Alan Chan, director and chartered financial planner at London-based IFS Wealth & Pensions, said he has not heard about Fundment, as they are very new to the market.
He said: "We would only consider them after they have demonstrated a period of financial stability, good feedback from other adviser firms, as well as other factors."
Mr Chan also said that "low cost, discretionary fund management solutions are already available through various platform Sipps."
He said: "Like most firms, we already have software to do this and we cannot have one risk profiler for one client and a different one for another because the outcome would not be consistent."
maria.espadinha@ft.com
