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Octopus to launch wealth management arm with bespoke technology
20 December 2018
Octopus is launching wealth management arm Octopus Wealth, seeing an opportunity to help plug the financial advice gap in the UK, the company says.
It is looking also at ways of delivering advice using new technology that the company is building in house, to complement traditional face-to-face advice. The main focus will be on serving younger, new-to-advice clients.
Octopus Wealth is in the early stages of development and will run out of a separate office from the rest of the business. The company said the new operation currently has two advisers and a small number of clients and is focusing on testing its proposition and building the technology. It will offer restricted advice using a range of products and services from within the Octopus Group and beyond as it looks to deliver on each client’s financial plans.
Part of its toolkit will include an in-house designed fact find technology, which the company says, is designed to make the client onboarding process “as simple and intuitive as possible”. Once tested and proven, the tech solutions and other learnings could be offered to other adviser firms who might want to incorporate it into their businesses.
Simon Rogerson, CEO and co-founder of Octopus Group (pictured), said:“We have been massive champions of financial advice for the nearly twenty years that we have been in business. We support thousands of advisers across the country every day, with smart investments that solve real problems for their clients. And we always will.
Quoting figures that more than 9 out of 10 Britons currently do not consult an adviser, and that the UK adult population of over 51 million is served by around 25,000 financial advisers – one adviser for every 2,000 adults – Rogerson added: “It’s no secret, though, that there aren’t enough advisers in the UK. Too many people are going without the smart advice that could help transform their lives for the better, and we think that should change. That’s the rationale behind our new business, which will use technology to focus on people who perhaps haven’t considered the need for financial advice before, but who could really benefit.”
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