AS: So it’s a very different offering as a much broader suite of solutions for advisers. How does the acquisition of Kuber help those advisers and what do you think it means for the industry in terms of having one focal point now in GrowthInvest?
DR: To be clear, rather than acquiring Kuber, we have reached an agreement to take on the ongoing servicing of client portfolios should they opt in to using our platform. Our aim is to provide those advisers and their clients with an improved service across a broader subset of the marketplace. We believe we are in a position to help these advisers to solve their efficiency and control problems right across the tax efficient space.
In terms of what this means for the industry, I would hope that those advisers that used Kuber as a solution to provide efficiency and control for their EIS business, will opt in to using GrowthInvest. Some of these advisers may have been out of the market for a period whilst they had no solution, but we can now provide that solution for them. We hope that this will bring those advisers and clients back into the market, which is clearly a good thing. Thereafter we can demonstrate the benefits of embedding our technology, platform and our wider client services offering, giving comfort to these many adviser firms that they can grow their advice proposition in this important area, whether it be VCT, EIS, inheritance tax products or beyond. We hope this will be a good thing for the wider tax efficient marketplace as well.
AS: So a lot of opportunity for advisers to look at. It gives them a new focal point, something tangible where they can concentrate in dealing with these tax efficient solutions for their clients. You mentioned obviously that there’ll be the transition of Kuber’s clients and advisers across to GrowthInvest, can other advisers now sign up for GrowthInvest and how might others take advantage of this?
DR: Yes of course, that’s very important to us. We are growing rapidly as a business, and we feel that we are delivering the solution that advisers need, at a time that this area of investment is becoming increasingly important. The onboarding of Kuber clients is just a part of our ongoing growth, outside of that we are engaging with new adviser firms of all sizes on a daily basis. Clearly, we are motivated to work with as many new clients as possible, whether these clients have experience in the space or not. Where firms have large legacy portfolios we can demonstrate the control and governance we can provide. Equally, those advisers who are new to the space who are keen to build a scaleable process alongside educating themselves on these investments. In terms of educational support, we have a suite of CPD accredited educational material as a result of the award winning GrowthInvest Adviser Hour. This is our ongoing educational webinar series for advisers, covering all aspects of the tax efficient investment market. For new platform clients, we run the GrowthInvest Engage Program, which provides collateral and support to educate both clients and advisers on our platform, and tax efficient products. In summary, GrowthInvest provides complete support for advisers who want to become active in, or to grow this area of their business.
AS: That’s very reassuring. I’m sure our readers will not want to miss the boat on this and have the opportunity to engage with EIS and other tax products. We’ll include a link for them to organise and observe a free demo HERE
DR: We would be very happy to do that Alex.
AS: Just a final question. Why should advisers be engaging with you now and what should advisers be speaking to GrowthInvest about?
DR: Whilst we will continue to evolve and improve our service, we believe we have a proposition that is solving important problems for our clients right now. We are growing rapidly as a business, and both the growth in our client base, and our assets under administration, demonstrate that we are absolutely here for the long term.
I’d like to conclude with two important points:
The ability to efficiently access and manage tax efficient and wider alternative assets is becoming increasingly important to many advisers. The portfolios of high value clients should have an allocation to these asset classes, otherwise they are not adequately diversified. As such, it’s very important that advisers can talk to their clients about these products, and that they feel comfortable that they have the knowledge, process and controls in place to do it well. There is certainly client demand, and if advisers aren’t talking to clients about these products, they may take a direct route to access them. We believe that advice in this area is very important, and look to provide the tools for advisers to confidently offer this advice.
Finally, adviser firms are naturally looking for ways to grow assets under advice. Once the client has adequately contributed to ISAs, Pensions and other mainstream investments, where else do they look to deliver that growth? The tax efficient and alternative markets have been under-utilised by many and addressing that issue can deliver meaningful growth for advisers. GrowthInvest provides the knowledge, efficiency, and controls to do that confidently and in a scaleable manner.
AS: Thank you very much indeed, Daniel, for your time and insights today. Much appreciated.
DR: Good to talk to you and the GBI Team Alex.
