Moneyfarm to acquire UK digital pension adviser Profile Pensions

Today we are delighted to announce that Moneyfarm has agreed to acquire 100% of Profile Pensions, the UK digital pension adviser and pensions consolidator subject to Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorisation.

The acquisition marks a significant expansion of Moneyfarm in the UK pensions market. The UK pensions industry is burgeoning, currently standing at £680bn and has grown by 24% since 2016* with a number of strong underlying drivers.

As a result of the transaction, Moneyfarm will grow into a larger and broader player, with a significant depth of proposition in digital wealth management across the UK and Italy. By combining Moneyfarm and Profile Pensions solutions, it will create an even stronger fintech business for customers.

Profile Pensions is a UK digital pension adviser and consolidator, with approximately £870m in AUM and 24,000 customers at the time of the agreement. 

Following an investment from Smedvig Capital in 2015, Profile Pensions embarked on its growth journey by developing a proprietary technology platform to automate pensions advice, tracing and consolidation. Profile Pensions’ customer proposition is delivered on a purpose-built, cloud native platform, capable of scaling to service a customer base of millions.

Moneyfarm will acquire 100% of the business, with the deal financed by Moneyfarm’s current shareholders, namely M&G plc, Poste Italiane S.p.A, Cabot Square Capital, United Ventures and Fondazione di Sardegna. As part of the deal, Smedvig Capital will also become a minority shareholder in Moneyfarm.

The acquisition is expected to close in H1 2023, subject to regulatory approvals.

This transaction builds on Moneyfarm’s growth momentum, following the completion earlier in 2022 of the £44.1m Series D raise led by M&G plc and subsequent commercial partnership with M&G plc to launch a new UK digital investment solution.

Giovanni Daprà, Co-Founder and Chief Executive at Moneyfarm, said:

“Profile Pensions gives flexibility to pensions investing as it allows you to track down your pensions, identify which investments are suitable for you, and manage them in a way that’s more aligned to your circumstances thanks to the unique digital whole of market advice capabilities. Through the acquisition of Profile Pensions, Moneyfarm will create an even greater opportunity for our clients to maximise the long term value of their assets by allowing them to easily consolidate their pensions investments alongside their normal investment, ISA and SIPP accounts, setting Moneyfarm apart from any other platform in the UK. 

“Moneyfarm has been on an incredible journey in the UK: twelve months ago we acquired Wealthsimple’s UK book of business and in January of this year, we entered into a partnership with M&G to provide their customers with our platform to support their D2C ambitions. This acquisition is another testament  to our ambitions, helping us consolidate our market position even in a challenging business environment”.

Jordan Mayo, Chief Executive of Profile Pensions, added:

“The team at Profile Pensions has built a whole of market pensions advice, consolidation and drawdown platform that delivers outstanding customer outcomes and world class customer satisfaction – our Net Promoter Score is in the top 1% of global investment firms according to delighted.com. As an independent company, we have grown organically to approximately £870m of AUM on the strength of our technology and service. We are delighted to become part of Moneyfarm, and to combine our pensions platform with Moneyfarm’s brand, scale and broader product offering to create the clear independent UK leader in digital investment advice.” 

The benefits of buying Profile Pensions

So, what does this mean for Moneyfarm customers? Moneyfarm is keen to expand and to offer our customers more. 

Here’s how the acquisition could benefit you:

• Profile Pensions, through Moneyfarm, will give you flexibility in pension investing by allowing you to track down pensions, identify which investment is suitable and manage them in a way that’s aligned to your financial needs. This is all made possible through its unique digital “whole of market” advice capabilities.
• You will be able to easily consolidate your pensions investments alongside your normal investments on Moneyfarm’s platform, such as any Individual Savings Account (ISA) and Self-invested Personal Pension (SIPP) account. It’s one of the many features that sets Moneyfarm apart from any other platform in the UK.
• You will benefit from ongoing advice and support from a dedicated Pension Adviser who will monitor your pension and its performance to ensure it’s always achieving your financial retirement goals.
• There will be no hidden costs. The annual fee will include platform, fund fees and ongoing advice.

What should you do now?

You don’t have to do anything! As we’ve indicated above, the deal with Profile Pensions is still subject to regulatory approval which we expect to get in the first half of 2023. 

However, we will keep you informed about it and the benefits that will be open to you once the deal has been wrapped up. If you haven’t signed up and agreed to receive our communications yet, you can do it here.

In the meantime, you can continue to enjoy Moneyfarm’s services where we get you matched to the best portfolio and help you reach your investment goals.

*Source: The Investment Association, MoretoSIPP