ANOTHER FIRST FOR TRUE POTENTIAL WITH LAUNCH OF ‘TOP-UP’ TECHNOLOGY TO CONSUMERS

True Potential LLP is backing the Government’s Budget that rewards savers by making their unique ‘top-up’ technology ImpulseSave® available to the public through a new online investment service called True Potential Investor.

Already available to advisers and their clients through the True Potential Wealth Platform, ImpulseSave® is a first-of-its-kind service that enables consumers to add to their investments at the touch of a button, using a laptop or mobile device. They can add as little as £10, or as much as they need to close their ‘gap to goal’, whenever they wish to keep their investment goals on track or to reach their goals faster.

True Potential Investor can be accessed by the general public via the web (www.tpinvestor.com) and on any mobile device thanks to its use of responsive technology. An iPad and iPhone app is also available for download. To simplify the investment process and make decision-making easier, the company has hand-picked a core range of risk-mapped multi-asset funds from the 16,000+ available on the True Potential Wealth Platform. By avoiding a “supermarket” of thousands of funds that can confuse or even deter many would-be investors, True Potential Investor can offer a more focused choice of funds that are designed to meet the needs of clients with varying risk profiles.

Available with a minimum investment of £50, True Potential Investor will allow people to:

• Set goals and calculate how much they need to save
• Determine their attitude to risk
• Invest in a range of funds that best suits their needs
• Track the performance of their investments against their goals
• Quickly and easily top up their savings with a unique ImpulseSave® feature
• Link up bank accounts to find new ways to save
• See all their assets and investment accounts held with other providers in one convenient location

The announcement by True Potential follows Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget that rewarded savers and pensioners with reforms to ISAs and annuities. True Potential has recently campaigned to increase the ISA allowance to encourage a culture saving among the general public. True Potential’s own research shows that a quarter of people in the UK are not saving anything for retirement, while two thirds are putting aside less than £100 per month. In addition, two thirds of people aged 35 – 54 are not confident they will have saved enough to retire comfortably.

David Harrison, managing partner at True Potential, said: “As a firm, we are driven to deliver tools that mirror the natural behaviour of the UK consumer. A large number of Britons – many of whom have never spoken to a financial adviser or have found themselves orphans of RDR – are not saving or investing enough. True Potential Investor uses digital technology to empower more Britons to save for the future.

 “We want to democratise savings and investments and True Potential Investor will bring a huge amount of investing power within reach of far more people. Users can access their savings and investments in the palm of their hand, topping up their funds 24/7 with ImpulseSave®. Only by delivering these products to people in a quick and easy way, via the devices that they prefer to use, will we be able to make the scale of improvement that is needed to close the Savings Gap,” said David Harrison.

 “Advisers will always play an important role in educating and transacting financial matters for clients. True Potential Investor will complement the existing advice market as the more frequently a client encounters a product, for example an ISA, the more confident they will become in exploring other more complex financial solutions that require professional advice.”

The investment process with True Potential Investor is designed to be intuitive and informative and gives investors the knowledge and confidence to take control of their finances. True Potential Investor also offers full telephone and web support, including LiveChat.

Earl Glasgow, Managing Partner True Potential Wealth Management, said: “From what we are seeing, after just a few short weeks, ImpulseSave® is having a dramatic impact our business. Our Wealth Management Partners and their clients have quickly adopted this new service to complete smaller transactions, which in the long-run means the total investment of new money is likely to be larger and without the need for face-to-face advice. This is a great example of how technology can change the way people save.”