Seccl, the embedded investment platform, is preparing for dramatic expansion on the back of further investment from Octopus in a reshaped management team.
David Ferguson, currently Seccl CEO, has been promoted to the new full-time role of executive chairman, allowing him to focus his efforts on developing Seccl’s future vision, strategy and growth in the UK and overseas.
The move follows a number of significant client wins in recent months. It also reflects a growing pipeline of opportunities that span the retail wealth market, both in the UK and internationally.
To allow Seccl to capitalise on its market opportunity, David will – in time – pass day-to-day executive responsibility to a new UK CEO, for which the business is currently hiring.
Reporting into the board, they will have ownership for overall performance – leading the rest of the executive team in the delivery of the business plan and, above all, ensuring Seccl continues to delight its rapidly growing roster of clients.
Until the new CEO is in position and approved by the Regulator, Seccl’s 180-strong team will continue to be led by David, reporting to Ruth Handcock as non-executive chair of the Seccl board.
Seccl now looks after more than £3 billion on behalf of more than a quarter of a million customers and expects to triple assets under administration over the coming year.
David Ferguson, Seccl CEO and soon to be executive chair said: “Seccl is now a serious player – and I truly believe we can become a once-in-a-generation business by capitalising on the numerous opportunities in front of us.
“The progress we’ve made in building a business of great substance, together with the continued backing from Octopus, means we can further strengthen our team and allow me to really focus on our future strategy and growth. We’re doing important work in an area that is crying out for something better (all around the world) and that makes it a wildly exciting time to be shaping even bigger plans.”
Ruth Handcock, Seccl chair, commented: “Octopus has become famous for building industry-changing businesses and to do that we need to think very long term. It’s been incredible to watch the transformation of Seccl over the three years of Dave’s leadership, and to see it reach the scale where we now need to manage huge UK demand and future global expansion. This enlarged executive team will mean Seccl is set up to have its cake and eat it – delivering not just now, but well into the future, too.”
About Seccl
Seccl is the Octopus-owned embedded investment platform that’s helping more people to invest – and invest well.
Our sector is being held back by old tech, dismal processes and misaligned interests. Together they create pointless complexity for financial planning and investment professionals, and provide outdated, overpriced experiences for customers. We’re on a mission to fix it.
We help forward-thinking financial planners, wealth managers and investment platforms to reimagine their business and client experience – empowering them to build better, more sustainable and more valuable operations, and meet the digital demands of the future, not the baseline expectations of the past.
And we do it by reimagining their technology – with a low-cost, hyper-efficient and (genuinely) API-first technology infrastructure that handles millions of requests every day, and powers the portfolios of over 250,000 investors.
A regulated custodian and ISA/SIPP provider, we combine the disruptive mindset and ambitious mission to shake things up, with the commitment and substance to not screw them up.
