Moneyfarm acquires the British Profile Pensions in digital pensions – Corriere.it

A new step towards the internationalization of Moneyfarm, the financial advisory company with a digital approach founded in 2011 by Paolo Galvani and Giovanni Dapr, which has grown to manage the assets of over 115,000 savers with a team of around 200 specialists. Moneyfarm has announced the acquisition of 100% of Profile Financial Solutions (Profile Pensions), a UK-based digital advisory firm specializing in the aggregation and consolidation of pension positions, with over €1 billion in assets and 24,000 clients. Thanks to this operation, Moneyfarm exceeds 3.8 billion euros in assets under management and 115,000 customers globally, establishing itself as one of the main players in asset management with a digital approach at a European level. Indeed, the acquisition consolidates the company’s business in the UK pension market, which is now worth over 780 billion euros and which has grown by 24% in the period 2016-2020thanks to the impulse triggered by the tax incentives envisaged by the British legislation and by the degree of maturity and diffusion of supplementary welfare.

Digital vocation

Moneyfarm and Profile Pensions share a digital vocation in their approach to financial advice. Since 2015, with the entry of Smedvig Capital into its capital, Profile Pensions has developed a proprietary technological platform that allows the aggregation, management and consolidation of investments for pension purposes, making financial advice accessible to millions of British savers independent in pension matters. The transaction confirms Moneyfarm’s positive growth trend in its reference markets: in the first half of 2022, despite the complex phase experienced by the financial markets, Moneyfarm saw volumes and customers grow in the B2C and B2B2C business segments. Compared to the first half of 2021, at the end of June 2022 Moneyfarm recorded a 36% increase in net positive flows, a 46% increase in assets under management and a 50% increase in the customer base. In January 2022, Moneyfarm completed a new round of financing worth approximately €53 million, subscribed by M&G, lead investor, and by Poste Italiane, already a minority shareholder since 2019.

Growth in Great Britain

British asset management group M&G and Moneyfarm have signed a commercial partnership to launch a new digital investment solution on the UK market. Giovanni Dapr, co-founder and CEO of Moneyfarm, said: The transaction represents a decisive step in Moneyfarm’s growth path, crowning a profitable year for the company, despite the complexities of the financial environment. Profile Pensions is an innovative reality with a vision of financial advice very similar to ours, based on a digital approach, simplicity, transparency and attention to costs. Twelve months ago we acquired Wealthsimple’s client portfolio in the UK and in January 2022 we entered into a partnership with M&G to develop a new digital investment service for the UK market. All this has a significant impact on the growth of masses and customers and considerably strengthens our leadership in Europe. I thank our shareholders who have once again supported us in this important moment, commented Giovanni Dapr, co-founder and managing director of Moneyfarm.

The financing of the operation

The acquisition of 100% of Profile Pensions will take place with a mix of cash and Moneyfarm shares. The cash component will be financed by the current Moneyfarm shareholders, in particular by M&G, Poste Italiane, Cabot Square Capital, United Ventures and Fondazione di Sardegna. Consequently Smedvig Capital, main shareholder of Profile Pensions, will become a minority shareholder of Moneyfarm. The closing of the transaction is expected during the first half of 2023, once the necessary authorizations have been obtained from the supervisory authorities. Barclays Bank, through its Investment Banking division, acted as financial advisor and Linklaters as legal advisor to Moneyfarm.