PensionBee, a leading online pension manager, today announced that State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), the world’s third largest investment manager with $2.67 trillion in assets under management (1) , has taken a minority equity stake in its business.
The financing will be used to continue PensionBee’s phenomenal growth in the UK direct-to-customer market. PensionBee helps customers to find and combine their old pensions into one new online plan, with money managed by some of the world’s biggest money managers, including SSGA. Launched in mid-2016, the company has grown to c. £100 million in fee-earning assets with close to 8,000 active accounts and an additional c. £125 million of assets-in-transfer.
As a result of the financing, PensionBee will be expanding its white-label product line to offer pension consolidation services to banks and life companies. PensionBee already has highly successful partnerships with fellow fintech company Revolut and national newspaper The Telegraph. SSGA will take an Observer Seat on the PensionBee board.
The investment supports SSGA’s objective of being at the cutting edge of financial technology to enhance its clients’ experience.
Romi Savova, CEO of PensionBee commented: “We are delighted to welcome SSGA as investors in our company. We share the same goals of making pension saving easier and better for everyone and look forward to embarking on a new journey to bring customer-centric pension consolidation to mutual corporate clients.”
Nigel Aston, Global Head of Defined Contribution Proposition and Strategy for SSGA, added: “We have really enjoyed working closely with PensionBee over the last few years. We have been incredibly impressed and excited by how they use smart technology, innovative communication techniques and new media to attract and engage their audience. We share the common goal of wishing to help ordinary people make sense of the complexity of their retirement. We are really looking forward to working even more closely together as we enter the next stage of our partnership.”
About PensionBee
PensionBee is an online pension manager that brings old pensions into one plan in a straightforward way. Customers can manage their pension with ease; they can look at their live balance, make contributions online and use a smart calculator to plan their saving. PensionBee does this by using technology every step of the way. PensionBee has c.55,000 users and close to 8,000 active accounts.
By focusing on ease, full transparency on fees and jargon-free communication, PensionBee has been able to demystify pensions and appeal to people across the age spectrum. As Forbes recently summarised: “PensionBee cracked the pension sector and got the fintech world buzzing”.
(1) as of 30 September 2017
