Introducing Fintuity – The United Kingdom’s Only Digital IFA

With the threat of a prolonged period of economic disruption wrought by the COVID-19 crisis, many throughout the nation will be anxious to ensure that their finances and portfolios are working for them in the most effective way.  To this end, many will turn to a trusted Independent Financial Adviser (IFA)  to help them make sense of the prevailing economic winds and to assess what it will mean for them and their families.

The IFA sector is however widely noted as one of the most conservative parts of the UK’s finance industry. Dispensing crucial guidance and advice to clients, IFA’s often create a close working relationship with their clients but with COVID-19 the way in which people engage with services has seen a radical change with many looking for digital alternatives.

A bastion of tradition and reliant upon face to face contacts, paper based operations and high street offices, the average age of an IFA in the UK is 58 and comprises some 5,246 IFA firms throughout the country – whilst an established industry there remains considerable room for automation and efficiency savings.  

The UK’s Only Digital IFA Changing the Face of the Industry

Fintuity is the only digital IFA of its kind in the UK and was established in 2018 to address the growing demand for digital financial advice that can be accessible, secure and efficient.

The Fintuity platform is in many ways just like a traditional IFA – we offer the same adviser based regulated advice but  with the key difference being that we offer an entirely efficient, secure and speedy service direct to your laptop or device, when you want it and with the benefit of major cost savings.

As an online IFA we advise our growing number of clients with financial planning, guidance and bespoke product recommendations but offer our clients a near 50% cost saving on traditional IFAs. As we have dispensed with the office infrastructure and high staffing costs associated with traditional financial consultancy, we can pass this saving to our clients and are happy to do so.

Like a traditional IFA, Fintuity has a number of in-house advisers and access to the latest financial products to suit our clients needs – the only difference is that we have placed technical efficiency at the heart of our business to enhance our client experience and deliver the same results as a high street IFA direct to the user with significant savings in our fee structure.

Fintuity – The Digital IFA With a Soul

They say that unless you innovate you falter – As a young and vibrant team with an extensive background in institutional finance, we saw other sections of the UK’s finance industry embracing technology to improve efficiency and stay competitive in an ever-increasingly globalised world.

The IFA industry, whilst providing a crucial service to its clients was ripe for innovation and with a growing demand for digital service provision we setup Fintuity to offer a cost effective, compliant and efficient service to our customers.

As a business we are as keen to ensure the bottom line as any other but our responsibility lies not only with our customers and stakeholders but with society as a whole. When the COVID-19 crisis first hit we were the first to offer advisory services to NHS and emergency workers and have further continued to promote financial best practice with regular help and online tips.

Furthermore Fintuity sees it as our mission statement to call out inequalities where we see them and this month published our proprietary research into gender pensions inequalities – we will continue to highlight financial inequalities and lobby for change where we can.

As the world continues to digitalise and adapt, so will we.  

Adapting to the Changing Face of the IFA Sector

Fintuity was setup as an FCA regulated IFA well in advance of the COVID-19 crisis as we spotted a growing demand early on – the pandemic has simply accelerated our growth in response to client demand for online support in light of the nationwide and subsequent regional lockdowns.

According to new research from Fidelity’s FundsNetwork, almost two-thirds of IFAs have seen their future plans seriously impacted as a result of COVID-19 with future growth plans, staff hirings and client wealth-viability at the core of their medium to long term concerns.

As a new market player in the IFA industry we certainly identify with some of those concerns but as the only digital IFA in the country we have seen demand for our services grow exponentially since the lockdown and predict an upward curve in access to our services.

Whilst the sector as a whole faces a prolonged period of uncertainty, we will constantly adapt to overcome the challenges that the pandemic has faced us with – technology, customer service and efficiency.