Söderberg & Partners said on 6 November that it will be bringing to market an adviser platform, subject to approval by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority.
Powered by Seccl and additional providers, Söderberg & Partners said this is the first of several tech tie-ups it has planned to support increased business efficiencies for financial advisers.
The launch, along with the planned introduction of in-house technology, is the first step in the journey towards offering an end-to-end advice solution, it said.
The new platform will provide functionality including:
- Instant deposits and auto-investment function so investments get to market faster
- Contracted settlement for faster switches
- Cash management with no minimum cash balance required; clients can remain fully invested
- Multi-model approach so advisers can hold various investment strategies in one wrapper
- Tiered adviser charging with full flexibility on fees
- Family linking pricing
- Paperless user journeys with no documents or signatures required
- Transfers workbench for transparent transfers and progress updates
In addition, there are a number of additional functionality releases planned for 2024, to bring new services to market and further support adviser business efficiencies.
Söderberg & Partners further said it selected Seccl for its speed to market and ease of connectivity. Seccl is an embedded investment platform owned by Octopus. It offers low-cost, efficient, and API-first technology infrastructure with the aim of supporting firms in a changing financial services industry. Its same technology also powers a range of advisory businesses along with other financial services brands: GoHenry, Crowdcube and Penfold.
This API-first approach provides Soderberg with the ability to customise any element of the proposition and plug in best-of-breed solutions in a micro-services style architecture.
Nick Raine, CEO of Söderberg & Partners' UK business, said: "We want to reduce the administrative burden on advice firms so they can concentrate on helping their clients and save money. With this launch, we are looking to our Nordic roots for inspiration, and to learn lessons about how we can improve adviser-to-administrator ratios to make advice more efficient. Our overall aim is to reduce the cost of advice and support advisers to deliver better service to end clients."
Raine continued: "First-class technology solutions have been key to the success of Söderberg & Partners in Sweden and we are delighted to now be able to bring this approach to the UK with the launch of our market-leading platform proposition. Seccl and our other soon-to-be-announced partners, will form the foundation of our legacy-free platform, powered by modern technology and we will continue investing in technology in the months and years to come."
David Ferguson, CEO of Seccl, added: "As a leading investment manager in the Nordics, with £60bn of assets under management, it's incredibly exciting to have Söderberg & Partners enter the UK market.
"They're as passionate as we are about bringing true efficiency and connectivity to advice firms, and have a clear ambition to bring change to the industry by doing things better. With our hyper-efficient infrastructure, Seccl's embedded investment platform is perfectly placed to deliver this, helping advisers grow their businesses and deliver better outcomes for their customers. We're excited to be part of it."
