London-based Octopus Investments has launched a new discretionary portfolio management service with no minimum investment rule in a move aimed at helping IFAs extend such services to smaller clients in a cost-effective way.

Octopus Portfolio Manager was developed following feedback from close to 200 IFA firms and this week the firm launched a series of roadshows showcasing the service to the UK’s advisor community as it looks ahead to the reforms coming in under the regulator’s Retail Distribution Review.

Discretionary services have traditionally not been open to investors with less than a minimum of £250,000, but with the launch OPM discretionary portfolio management it is no longer the preserve of the high net worth investor, Octopus said in a statement.

“OPM has helped our business overcome many of the hurdles we saw with other discretionary portfolio management services. It is well managed, cost efficient and professionally implemented. We are particularly pleased that the no minimum investment rule allows us to provide a high quality service and investment solution to a larger number of clients,” Peter Mutch of Pantheon Financial, one of the first users of OPM, said in a statement.

Established in 2000, Octopus Investments now has some 22,000 clients, with funds under management totalling £1.6 billion ($2.4 billion).