Your IndustryNov 8 2018

Tavistock to launch D2C investment service

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Tavistock to launch D2C investment service

Tavistock Investments will launch a direct-to-consumer investment service based around a smartphone app.

The company said the response to its new products had been so positive, it had decided to launch a D2C service through a smartphone app called "i-stock" which will launch in early 2019.

Tavistock claimed this would be the first direct-to-consumer offering providing the ability to open both Isa and investment accounts to invest in a portfolio that benefits from a 90 per cent contractual capital guarantee from one of the world's largest investment banks.

The company made the announcement in its results for the six months to the end of September, which saw its losses fall by 61 per cent to £187,000.

Meanwhile gross revenue increased by 13 per cent to more than £14m compared with the same period last year.

The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased by 277 per cent to £516,000.

Tavistock's funds under management grew for the 16th consecutive quarter, reaching £941m, a 26 per cent increase over the last year and a 190 per cent increase since September 2016.

During the six month period Tavistock expanded its range of products and services, including the launch of two new protected funds and the creation of Tavistock Law, a specialist investment advice business endorsed as the preferred provider to the Law Society.

Brian Raven, chief executive of Tavistock, said: "We are delighted with the continued organic growth of both our investment management and financial advisory businesses, despite this period of economic uncertainty.

"Our outlook for growth remains positive, particularly given the early success of the new protected products and the endorsement by the Law Society. We believe that these results pave the way for greater momentum throughout 2019, with a predicted continuation of growth for the Tavistock Investments group."

With regards to Tavistock's advice business, this now has almost 200 advisers, £3.5bn of assets under advice and gross revenues of £11.6bn, up by 7 per cent on the previous year.

Meanwhile Tavistock Wealth, the company's investment management arm, is now used by 23 firms outside Tavistock's ownership which introduced more than £20m of inflows, while discussions with "many others" are ongoing.

During the first half of 2017 Tavistock made a loss of £481,000 but over the 12-month period as a whole the company made a pre-tax profit - its first ever - of £221,000.

The group had sold its 158-strong adviser network to Tavistock Financial to Sanlam in August 2017 in a £1m deal.

damian.fantato@ft.com