IG Group, an online trading platform, has announced the acquisition of InvestYourWay, an online investment manager that builds bespoke investment solutions. Michael Newell, Founder and CEO of InvestYourWay, has joined IG to help develop the offering.
Michael Newell, Founder and CEO of InvestYourWay, joins IG to drive forward its investments offering.
The move comes as part of IG’s strategic aim of expanding its product offering and will assist them in delivering on its partnership with BlackRock (announced in July) to offer a range of ETF-based investment portfolios.
Ian Peacock, Head of IG UK, commented: “We’re delighted to have acquired such an innovative business as InvestYourWay and look forward to working alongside Michael in his new role at IG. We believe that by combining InvestYourWay’s innovative technology and IG’s world class platform and development expertise we’ll be able to build a truly best in class offering in the investments space in partnership with BlackRock.”
IG expect to launch a range of ETF managed portfolios based on model portfolios developed by BlackRock in 2016. The technology developed by InvestYourWay will be integral to the delivery of these portfolios.
Portfolios constructed from ETFs have the potential to cause considerable disruption to the investment industry by providing accessible low-cost portfolio solutions tailored to investors’ individual requirements. While ETFs have traditionally been used as individual building blocks, there are a growing number of integrated ETF-based model portfolios that provide investors with a low cost, transparent, and flexible way to invest.
The development of ETF managed portfolios is in its infancy in the UK; however there are a number of asset managers who are offering the service to investors. Charles Stanley Pan Asset, SCM Private and Twenty20 Investments are three of the leading providers of discretionary ETF portfolios. Investors can also invest through Nutmeg, an innovative technology-based wealth manager, which provides actively-managed ETF portfolios through their website. There are also a number of start-up financial technology companies with products in the pipeline.