New Products
Tilney's Bestinvest Relaunches With Hybrid Services

The relaunched platform will offer a new hybrid investment service combining digital tools with a human touch for the millions of Brits with no ongoing relationship with an advisor.
Bestinvest, Tilney
Smith & Williamson’s UK investment and financial planning group,
is re-launching with new features to cater for millions who are
off the wealth management industry’s radar.
The platform, which will combine DIY investing, free coaching,
affordable advice, low-cost ready-made portfolios and digital
tools, will transform into a hybrid digital service through
combining online goal-planning and analytical tools with a “human
touch,” the company said. It aims to bridge the gap between
existing online services for self-directed investors and
traditional financial advice aimed at wealthier people.
Savers will be able to access help from qualified professionals
through free investment coaching and choose affordable
fixed-price advice packages. The company has also launched a
range of very low-cost, ready-made Smart portfolios, with
improved resources for DIY investors selecting and managing their
own investments.
A third of the UK’s adult population, some 15.7 million, have
investments but lack confidence in investment knowledge,
according to the Boring Money Advice Report 2021, while a
Platforum survey suggests that only 8 per cent of adults have an
ongoing relationship with a financial advisor, Bestinvest said in
a press release.
It is these investors it is targetting with personalised advice
services, such as a review of existing investments or a
recommendation for an appropriate portfolio, from its investment
advisors for one-off fees ranging between £295 ($398) and
£495.
"The new Bestinvest will provide the best of both worlds: the
benefits of a modern, digital service with a human touch through
the ability to speak to a qualified investment coach. It will
provide them with the extensive investment choice of a DIY
platform but also the option to choose a managed portfolio with
highly competitive fees, versus a robo-advisor,” Simonetta Rigo,
group chief marketing officer of Tilney Smith & Williamson,
said.
For more complex or specialist cases, Bestinvest will refer
clients to its parent Tilney Smith & Williamson, which manages
£56 billion of assets.
The five Smart portfolios, designed as ready-made investment
options to suit various risk profiles, will be invested in
passive investment funds but actively managed by Tilney Smith &
Williamson’s investment team. The total cost, including a reduced
account fee of 0.20 per cent, ranging from 0.54 to 0.57 per
cent per annum, will mean that an investment of £10,000 in the
Smart portfolios will attract fees of around £55 a year all in,
“significantly cheaper than most robo-advisors,” Bestinvest
said.
The company is also slashing share trading costs by a third, from
£7.50 per online share trade to £4.95, irrespective of
transaction size, from 1 February, making it the “lowest share
dealing fee among the major UK online investment platforms,” it
said. The company does not charge dealing fees on funds
purchases, sales or switches.
Share-trading fees will be slashed to less than £5. Most of the
new offers will be available early in the new tax year, with
Smart portfolios available from 1 February, according to the
firm.