The United kingdom based insurance giant Aviva has now announced it’s buying a greater part stake in robo investment startup, Wealthify.
The financial worth and the exact size of Aviva’s majority share has not been revealed but a spokesman said in an interview:
“It is a very substantial investment and most importantly, provides us a way in to Aviva’s millions of United kingdom customers which will help us to influence the mass market we’re aspiring for.”
The transaction stays as the focus to regulatory approval at this stage.
Aviva says the investment is part of its plan to build a good customer loyalty via a range of services that can be approached by its MyAviva customer porch, while also seeing opportunity to expand Wealthify’s business via publicity to the Aviva's customer base.
Aviva decleared 33 million customers for its life insurance, general insurance, health insurance and asset management services, across it's 16 markets.
While Cardiff, Wales based Wealthify, which only launched its platform in April 2016, had set itself a goal of helping one million United kingdom savers become investors in the next decade. It tells us it has around 10,000 at this stage.
Wealthify aims millennials and those who are new to investment by providing “a simple, easy to use and low fee digital investment service” — investing the fund on behalf of its users, starting from a minimum of a £1 investment, and offering five varied investment plans through ISAs and general investment accounts.
A dashboard view shows Wealthify users an analysis of their investments, how they are performing and how they are projected to perform. It stands the test with the likes of Nutmeg, accessible Capital, and Moneyfarm.
Remarking on the news in a statement, Richard Theo, co-founder and CEO of Wealthify, explained the investment as an “authentication of the vision we set out to attain three years ago to make investing change for the better”.
“Aviva’s investment and reach out to their millions of UK customers gives us confidence that we can become the leader in this market in the UK and beyond,” he said,in addition: “The capital investment from Aviva will be used mainly to speed up our determined growth strategy as well as to develop our technology to improve the scheme. We will remain focused and determined on simplicity, affordability and transparency, and strive to make investing accessible to everyone.”
In a second supporting statement, Blair Turnbull, MD of Aviva UK digital, added: “Wealthify put together a smart management team with a great technology and a start up culture. Together with the brand and financial strength of Aviva, we are very delighted about the future's opportunity, making Wealthify available to Aviva customers with ease via our MyAviva online and app experience.”