interactive investor completes Alliance Trust Savings Acquisition

• Creates the scaled challenger D2C platform with £36bn of AUA and around 400,000 customers
• Direct customers will stand to benefit from interactive investor’s:
  • Enlarged scale, enabling continued investment and development of services for customers
  • Netflix style monthly flat fee offering great value service packages
  • UK’s best international dealing service* offering access to 40,000 UK and Global securities on 17 global exchanges across multiple currencies
  • Award-winning original content and instrument agnostic investing insights, alongside leading-edge technology, products and services
  • Better value, better choice, better intelligence and better online services.

Interactive Investor Limited ("interactive investor" or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the completion of its acquisition of Alliance Trust Savings (“ATS”), from Alliance Trust PLC, following receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals. Accordingly, ATS is now operating under the ownership of Interactive Investor, the second largest investment platform for retail investors in the UK.

The completion of the acquisition, which was first announced in October 2018, brings together the two largest fixed price retail investment platforms with combined assets under administration (AUA) of £36bn, with around 400,000 customers.  The total consideration of the acquisition, which included the Alliance Trust PLC office building in Dundee, was £40m (subject to post-completion adjustments). 

Like ATS, interactive investor is committed to flat fees, so investors will continue to be charged for what they do, not what they are worth. We think that is fair. Flat fees mean that charges do not grow as investors’ wealth does, leaving them with more money for what is really important to them. 

Richard Wilson, Chief Executive Officer, interactive investor, says: “The completion of the ATS acquisition is an important milestone.  It cements our position as the market challenger in the UK direct-to-consumer marketplace and adds essential scale to support the on-going technology and talent investment needed to drive our customers’ service experience ever higher. Our trustpilot score hit 8.5 in May, but we won’t stop there as we continuously enhance our capabilities to offer the best value, informed choice and customer service.

“At ii our mission is to help customers take control of their financial futures. Our revolutionary new Netflix-style subscription plans are just part of that – in the past six months alone we have also delivered new customer tools, from our acclaimed, impartial Super 60 rated funds list to our award-winning app. We are delighted to now be able to welcome our ATS customers to our services and broad range of products, all with the simplicity of subscription-based flat-fee pricing.

“When it comes to the advised and partnership part of the ATS business, we have been talking and listening. With the keys to the door, we can start to lay down plans. Meanwhile, advisers and partners should expect business as usual.”

ATS customers will benefit from interactive investor’s extensive research notes and analysis, intelligence from award-winning journalists, investment filters and tools, Super 60 rated funds, model portfolios, customer community, and newsletters, all of which are designed to aid better informed investment decisions. 

interactive investor is 100% equity funded with no external debt and over £116 million of net assets. It is majority owned by affiliates of J.C. Flowers & Co, a leading private equity firm which has acted as investment advisor for investment funds in connection with more than 55 transactions, leading to aggregated investments in excess of USD 15 billion across 18 countries.  J.C. Flowers  & Co. is an international, well-established player in the private equity field, exclusively focused on the financial services sector and whose expertise means they are a sought-after partner for industry leaders.

interactive investor has a strong track record of acquiring, integrating and investing in complementary platform businesses. The company successfully completed the acquisition of TDDI in 2017, integrating TDDI’s customers with minimal disruption. It has also acquired and integrated the white label share-dealing businesses from Trustnet Direct, Telegraph Investor, The Motley Fool and SharePrice. 

Lord Smith of Kelvin, Alliance Trust’s Chairman, commented: “The Board is pleased that the sale of ATS to ii has completed. The sale completes our transformation into a fully focused global equity trust, which should improve returns to shareholders.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the hard-working staff at ATS for their efforts over the years to build the business. We wish ATS every success as it continues to develop under its new owner.”

Rothschild advised Interactive Investor on the acquisition of ATS.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Moira O’Neill
Head of Personal Finance
interactive investor
020 7680 3655
Twitter: @MoiraONeill

Jemma Jackson
Head of PR
interactive investor
07818 076 218 | 0207 680 3672
Twitter: @JemmaJackson_

TB Cardew (PR Advisor to ii)
+44 (0) 207 930 0777 or ii@tbcardew.com
Tom Allison
+44 (0) 7789 998 020
Shan Willenbrock
+44 (0) 7775 848 537
Olivia Rosser
+44 (0) 7552 864 250

Notes to editors
*interactive investor was voted Best International Share Dealing Service at the Shares 2018 Awards.

About interactive investor 
interactive investor (ii) is the UK’s number one flat-fee investment platform. ii offers a wealth of unbiased information, analysis, tools and expert ideas to help customers make better informed investment decisions. ii’s award-winning trading platform provides access to an extensive choice of markets, instruments and currencies within Trading, ISA and SIPP accounts. This comprehensive investing service is underpinned by a strong focus on delivering great value for investors demonstrated through an innovative and competitive pricing model – featuring simple, flat fees and unique ‘trading credits’. interactive investor is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this press release does not constitute investment advice or personal recommendation. Past performance is no guide to the future and the value of investments can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount invested. 

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About ATS
Alliance Trust Savings is a leading provider of SIPPs, ISAs and Share dealing Accounts. The business was launched by Alliance Trust PLC over 30 years ago and now administers £16bn of assets across over 105,000 customer accounts (as at 30 April 2019). Alliance Trust Savings has won numerous awards for its products and services and is a founding member of KickStart Money, a ground-breaking project with fifteen other leading UK financial services companies and the Tax Incentivised Savings Association (TISA) to deliver much needed money skills to thousands of primary school children across the UK. 

About Alliance Trust PLC
Alliance Trust PLC is one of the UK’s largest and oldest investment trusts providing investors with a unique global equity portfolio at a competitive cost. Our portfolio is managed by an alliance of best-in-class managers – as rated by Willis Towers Watson – who invest only in their best ideas. The investment strategy aims to deliver a real return over the long term through a combination of capital growth and a rising dividend. The Trust is one of only three investment trusts to have increased its dividend every year for 52 consecutive years.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.