"What will set us apart from the competition is our commitment not to compete with advisers for distribution, and focus on our investment trading platform and providing the best service and tools."
The deal includes taking ownership of the Legal & General branded Investor Portfolio Service platform powered by Cofunds.
Aegon says it intends to "combine the best of both the Aegon and Cofunds platforms through a technology upgrade approach", differing from a traditional replatforming exercise which typically means the build of a platform and migration of customers to it.
Instead the technology upgrade will take an established platform and add functionality and data to it. Aegon says a significant emphasis will be placed on enhanced digital service and a reduction in use of paper which Cofunds’ users had highlighted as being a key change they needed.
Advisers can benefit from the additional use of straight through processing which can reduce the possibility of manual errors and frees up time for client advice. User log-ins will remain the same to avoid problems being able to access the enhanced functionality.
In addition Cofunds users will benefit from a wider product range including the use of Exchange Traded Funds, Investment Trusts, Shares and an integrated pension. Those who currently use the Aegon platform will benefit from existing Cofunds’ features like pre-funding of trades, debit card acceptance and an improvement to the investment selection process. Access to this additional functionality will begin to roll out in the second half of 2017.
Cofunds will continue to be led by David Hobbs and be run from its HQ in Witham, Essex, with operational staff also located in Hove, East Sussex.
This is the third transaction completed with Aegon by Legal & General following the acquisition of Aegon’s £2.9 billion annuity back book and the five year individual annuity distribution agreement for Aegon pension customers with Legal & General.
Adrian Grace, Aegon Chief Executive said: “Today marks the start of a new era for both Aegon and Cofunds. The completion takes us a major step further in our transition from traditional life company to fully-fledged platform business. Our focus now is to help intermediaries grow their business, grow their profitability and manage their risk and costs effectively. What will set us apart from the competition is our commitment not to compete with advisers for distribution, and focus on our investment trading platform and providing the best service and tools.
“By discussing our approach and progress with intermediaries from the outset we aim to deliver a platform that they feel invested in for the benefit of their business and their clients. While we recognise that we have a big task at hand which needs to be handled with care, it represents a fantastic opportunity to work with intermediaries to shape the future of the platform industry.”
