Fintel, the leading provider of fintech and support services to the UK Retail Financial Services sector today provides an update on two further strategic acquisitions.
VouchedFor and AKG mark the third and fourth acquisitions by the Company this year, following the acquisitions of learning and development provider, Competent Adviser, and tax efficient investing specialists, Micap completed in July 2023
The acquisitions are in line with Fintel’s strategy to improve the retail financial services market, promote the value of financial advice and increase consumer confidence and trust.
Matt Timmins, Joint CEO of Fintel, commented:
“Our positive trading momentum has continued into the second half, with continued growth in SaaS and Subscriptions revenues, supported by our resilient, diversified revenue base.
“VouchedFor and AKG are two market leading businesses which are highly complementary to our offering and share our vision. VouchedFor is the UK’s standard bearer for Trusted Advice while AKG has been at the forefront of financial strength ratings and consultancy for over 20 years. Both have strong adjacencies in terms of our capabilities and customers, and we look forward to further developing their compelling growth prospects.
“We continue to deliver growth organically and make progress consolidating the fragmented software market, providing efficiencies for advisers and creating better outcomes for all participants. With a strong M&A pipeline, underpinned by our balance sheet and cash position, we are confident in making further strategic progress.”
VouchedFor
Fintel, the parent company of SimplyBiz and Defaqto, will acquire VouchedFor for £7.5m through Fintel IQ, the business’s technology and knowledge platform. The acquisition is in line with Fintel’s strategy to improve the retail financial services market, promote the value of financial advice, and increase consumer confidence and trust, and furthers its strategy of curating a streamlined tech infrastructure for advisers.
VouchedFor provides reviews on a wide range of services, including financial advisers, mortgage advisers, solicitors, and accountants and currently has over 5,000 paying members and over 350,000 client reviews. Following the acquisition, its leadership and team will remain in place and work alongside the Fintel management team to play a crucial role in significantly expanding the reach and services of VouchedFor.
VouchedFor is a leading review site for Financial Advisers, Mortgage Advisers, Solicitors and
Accountants, serving over 5,000 intermediary customers. It has launched the new “Elevation” product that helps firms monitor Consumer Duty compliance that will both complement the current product offerings and drive significant future growth.
Neil Stevens, Joint CEO of Fintel, commented:
“VouchedFor is an exceptional business with a very important mission – to increase confidence in, and generate demand for, professional financial advice. We passionately believe in the enormous value of professional advice and will invest in VouchedFor to grow its market reach; ensuring the UK’s standard bearer for trusted advice can serve every advice business in the UK.
“We are delighted that the talented team at VouchedFor shares our vision for the future and we are closely aligned in our mission to promote and enable better connections to professional advice. We will be working with the team to take that mission to the next level in 2024 and further announcements of a groundbreaking new service we’ve developed together will be made in the coming weeks.”
Alex Whitson, Managing Director of VouchedFor, added:
“I am thrilled that we have found a partner who shares our commitment to championing the value of advice – a mission that is crucially important. Our technology makes it easier for advisers to deliver and showcase great client experience, enabling the public to get the help they need. Fintel’s investment will enable us to accelerate our growth, launch more services for advisers, and enhance our client offering. I believe that the combination of Fintel and VouchedFor will be incredibly positive for the entire profession.”
AKG
Also announced today, Fintel’s subsidiary Defaqto has acquired AKG, a market leading ratings provider. The addition of VouchedFor and AKG mark the is the latest third and fourth acquisitions by Fintel this year, following the acquisitions of leading learning and development provider, Competent Adviser, and tax efficient investing specialists, Micap completed in July 2023.
Fintel has acquired AKG to further extend its industry-leading portfolio of ratings and reviews for financial services and investment professionals.
AKG is a market leader in the provision of independent assessment and rating of financial strength for a range of entities including life companies, investment platforms and discretionary fund managers in the UK. AKG ratings and reports are made available to advisers and their clients through advice technology, provider channels and directly from the AKG portal.
As the most trusted provider of financial strength ratings in the intermediated financial services market, this deal further extends AKG’s reach to more than 10,000 advisers served by Fintel. The transaction will also enable Fintel-owned Defaqto to further expand and deepen its relationships within the investment management and financial advice communities.
Defaqto provides independent, expert ratings and reviews covering risk, performance, functionality, service, ESG, and the Consumer Duty, which enable IFAs, wealth managers and paraplanners to differentiate between financial products quickly and easily. This purchase extends these capabilities to include the rating and review of the financial strength of financial product providers.
Defaqto will invest in AKG and draw on resources from across Fintel to accelerate distribution of its proposition, both within the sectors that it currently operates and adjacent areas, helping more advisers and their clients to benefit from clear, concise insights about financial strength and their Consumer Duty responsibilities. AKG’s financial strength ratings are already the most widely selected filter in Defaqto Engage, the financial planning tool used by a third of UK IFAs.
Matt Timmins, Joint CEO at Fintel, commented:
“I have worked in UK retail financial services for 25 years and throughout that time AKG has been at the forefront of financial strength ratings and consultancy. They help thousands of advisers to provide professional financial advice to millions of consumers and this is a perfect extension to our Fintel tech and services platform.”
Commenting on the purchase, Defaqto CEO John Milliken said:
“Defaqto is expanding through a combination of organic growth and acquiring some of the most highly regarded businesses in the industry that have strong adjacencies in terms of capabilities and customers. AKG is a strategically significant acquisition, adding industry expertise, insight and data that is complementary to Defaqto’s. We very much look forward to working with the talented team at AKG to invest in the business and make it an even greater success in the future, enabling more people to make smarter financial decisions.”
Guy Vanner, MD at AKG, said:
“We are delighted to become a part of the Fintel family. AKG has specialised in company assessment work for over 30 years and has become synonymous with the assessment of operational financial strength from the perspective of end customers, for use by their advisers. We are now excited to be able to further expand the delivery of our existing and new ratings and reviews to new and existing customers with the assistance of Defaqto and within the broader Fintel group.”
