Investec will close its digital wealth platform Click & Invest service and write off nearly £20m of costs, according to a statement from the firm and a stock market update.
The online robo-advice investment platform, headed by Jane Warren (pictured), was launched by Investec Wealth & Investment in June 2017 and is part of the wider Investec group, which has more than £32.5bn of client funds under management.
From today the service, which launched as a ‘start-up’ within the firm, will stop taking on new clients and will begin the process of winding down.
Initially, the firm aimed to attract investors with a minimum of £10k but this was slashed to £2.5k in January of this year.
A spokesperson for Investec said: “We fully appreciate that this announcement will be of real sadness to both clients and staff of Investec Click & Invest. Our prime concerns from this point are to minimise disruption for clients and ensure that employees are treated with respect and fairness.”
The wind-down will take place over the next 90 days. Investors can either sell the investments and withdraw money in cash, transfer to another provider, either in cash or in current form, whichever they prefer, and their new provider can accept or transfer out in their own name.
“Investec Click & Invest launched just under two years ago, and we are extremely proud of the service we have provided and the consistently positive feedback we have received from clients,” Investec’s spokesperson added.
The firm says despite a big push in marketing terms - it is writing down a £20m loss for the closure - the reality has been that the appetite for digital wealth management is low and the market itself is growing at a much slower rate than expected.
