“I saw a gap in the market to take everything that a financial adviser does and fully automate it,” said Laura Cornely, director of Count Finance.
Speaking to FT Adviser, Cornely discussed how she created the app, Count Finance, to target those who are starting out on their investment journey and may not want to sit down with a face-to-face adviser.
She said: “I come from a finance background. I worked in private equity, venture capital and credit and rating. My friends would ask me to help them with choosing ETFs, or to help them with tax issues.”
By having her friends come to her with financial questions, this made Cornely look into what the current market was offering for people who might not have enough investable to take full financial advice but wanted help with investing.
The younger generation actually prefer to have everything on their phone. I myself feel more comfortable about using something that is fully automated
She even highlighted how she herself was unable to access an adviser despite earning six figures, simply for not having enough liquid assets.
“Currently on the market you have financial advisers that don’t take most people or robo advisers who offer very fixed portfolios.
“You also have trading platforms that are quite similar, but you have to be an active person, so you need to know what you’re doing,” Cornely explained.
Therefore, she spotted a gap in the market to create something digital for people who were starting out on their investment journey but perhaps did not have the knowledge to invest themselves.
“At Count we take everything a financial adviser does for you and we fully automate it, and therefore make it affordable for everyone,” she explained.
Count Finance is taking part in the FCA’s regulatory sandbox which is for firms wanting to test new products live in the market with real consumers.
“Our main USP is offering real financial advice as opposed to standardised products that are currently available via our competitors.
“Consequently, we went for the FCA approval as a financial adviser, or more specifically a personal investment firm,” Cornely said.
As Count Finance are the first company in the UK to offer this type of service fully automated, the regulator asked Count to launch in its regulatory sandbox.
“This means we get full authorisation but are under strict supervision from the FCA for the first six months.
“At the end of the six months, the FCA may let us exit the sandbox with full authorisation or prolong the testing period,” Cornely explained.
Being within the sandbox will give the FCA confidence that Count does produce good consumer outcomes in line with consumer duty, while also providing customers with peace of mind that the app is under strong scrutiny from the regulator.
Count Finance will officially go live on the second week of August, Cornely revealed.
How it works
Users download the Count Finance app and connect with open banking and then take a suitability questionnaire.
Based on those answers and other financial records provided by the user, the app creates a bespoke budgeting amount and begins saving and investing for you.
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“The investing element is a portfolio of ETFs in different markets and different asset classes, depending on your current situation.
“We give you a portfolio that fits with your financial life now and then every year, we readjust this portfolio to grow with you and your lifetime goals. This is fully automated and feeds into our dashboard,” Cornely said.
The app gives recommendations of how big a users emergency fund should be while also putting money into high interest savings accounts.
It also gives recommendations of what a user’s financial strategy should be depending on their financial goal, as well as recommending what tax wrappers to use.
Fees
In terms of pricing, the app operates on a combination of subscription based and assets under management fee.
It offers a free version and then two paid for models.
The entry-level plan gives you most of the features at a price of £1.99 per month with an assets under management fee of 25 bps.
While the premium version which includes the tax wrapper optimisation which comes at a price of £3.99 per month with an assets under management fee of 25 bps.
“Our assets under management fee is less expensive than most robo advisers, typically theirs is between 45 basis points to 60 basis points. So we are more in line with some trading platform in terms of pricing,” Cornely explained.
She also said she was proud to be able to provide consumers with a suitability report with recommendations for a lower price compared to the rest of the market.
She added: “If you go to a financial adviser, this [suitability report] will cost you £250 alone. This is so crazy to me.
“Of course there will always be people that want to speak to [an adviser] and if you come with a lot of assets, you should probably speak to [an adviser] because they can help you with shielding from tax in a way that we don’t.
“However, the younger generation actually prefer to have everything on their phone. I myself feel more comfortable about using something that is fully automated.”
alina.khan@ft.com
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