Dynamic Planner, a risk-based financial planning firn based in the U.K., has secured what the company is calling a “significant investment” from private equity growth firm FPE Capital. Terms of the investment were not disclosed, but the additional funding is designed to help accelerate Dynamic Planner’s expansion plans in the U.K. and Europe.
Dynamic Planner CEO Ben Goss praised FPE Capital for not only for backing successful software companies in the past and helping them scale their businesses, but also for sharing values that Dynamic Planner holds dear. “They also share our vision for solving our industry’s major challenges through technology such as process digitization, customer experience, investing sustainably for future generations, and omni-channel financial planning in a post-pandemic world,” Goss said.
Making its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in London earlier this year, Dynamic Planner offers a single platform that enables financial advisory firms to match clients with investment portfolios that meet their individual needs and goals. The company’s technology provides client profiling to ensure that client preferences are accurately assessed and reflected in the portfolio composition process. Dynamic Planner also offers whole-of-market fund research, cash flow modeling, and pre-populated reports to make it easier for advisors to provide holistic, compliant investment portfolio reviews and reports. Via its SaaS platform, Dynamic Planner serves nearly 40% of wealth advice firms in the U.K., and more than 150 asset managers representing $300 billion (£250 billion) in assets. The company is on pace to surpass $12 million (£10 million) in annual recurring license revenues in 2022.
In addition to making its first appearance on the Finovate stage earlier this year, Dynamic Planner also launched its Client Access solution. Unveiled in March, the new offering leverages psychometric risk and sustainability profiling to make remote financial advice more precise and engaging.
“While remote advice is here to stay, it can be a challenge for advisors to make the process engaging or easy to understand for clients, as well as build deep relationships which ultimately result in better outcomes,” Dynamic Planner Sales & Marketing Director Yasmina Siadatan explained. Siadatan called the new solution “a fundamental piece of the hybrid advice puzzle.”
Headquartered in Reading, Berkshire, Dynamic Planner was founded in 2003. The company was named “Adviser Technology Provider of the Year” at the Money Marketing Awards in 2021 and, that same year, won top honors as the “Leading Independent Planning Tool Provider” at the Schroders U.K. Platform Awards.
Speaking of fintech in the U.K., a hearty congratulations to Starling Bank, the pioneering U.K.-based digital bank launched in 2014 by CEO Anne Boden. The bank announced this week that it had achieved its first full year of profitability, delivering a pre-tax profit of $38.4 million (£32.1 million). The news represents a major milestone for the company, which produced a pre-tax loss of $37.7 million (£31.5 million) the previous year.
“With our first full year of profitability, we’ve placed ourselves firmly in a category of one,” Boden said in a statement. “As an innovative digital bank with a sustainable business model and a strong balance sheet, we are generating our own capital and we stand apart from both the old banks and other challengers.”
A fully-licensed and regulated bank, Starling Bank offers personal, business, joint, euro and dollar current accounts, as well as a card for youth. Headquartered in London and maintaining offices in Southampton, Cardiff, and Dublin, Starling Bank also offers a B2B banking-as-a-service and software-as-a-service proposition, leveraging the same proprietary technology Starling uses to power its own operations.
Earlier this month, Starling Bank unveiled its Bills Manager solution for small businesses. The new feature gives small businesses greater flexibility when making Direct Debit or standing orders by taking funds from money set aside in one of their available Savings Spaces rather than from the business’ main account. The solution helps small businesses streamline their finances by making budget forecasting and cost management easier. Bills Manager seamlessly integrates with popular accounting platforms such as Xero and FreeAgent – both of which are available via the Starling Marketplace – as well as with Starling’s own bookkeeping solution I.
“Our small business customers requested this feature, so we’ve delivered,” Starling Bank Chief Banking Officer Helen Bierton said. “Uptake of Bills Manager has been strong among our personal current account customers and we’re confident it will help hundreds of thousands of small businesses better manage their money, too.”
Check out our conversation with Starling’s Boden moments after she delivered her keynote address at FinovateSpring in May.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Brazilian fintech Neon secured $80 million for its first Credit Right Investment Fund.
- Forbes looked at the relationship between fintech and the rise of financial inclusion in Latin America.
- Mexico City-based fintech Arrenda raised $26.5 million in pre-seed equity and debt funding.
Asia-Pacific
- Malaysia-based Bank Islam launched its cloud-native, digital banking offering, Be U.
- Bangladesh’s BRAC Bank announced a partnership with TerraPay to enable faster cross-border payments.
- Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia partnered with financial risk management platform Feedzai.
Sub-Saharan Africa
- African payments facilitator for businesses Bizao secured $8 million (€8 million) in Series A funding.
- RoutePay secured an Approval in Principle (AIP) license from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
- South African fintech startup Sava raised $1.8 million in pre-seed funding to support its spend management platform.
Central and Eastern Europe
- Lithuanian KYC/AML specialist Ondato launches Ondato Risk Scoring to enhance onboarding and better manage customer-associated risk.
- Germany-based Penta agreed to be acquired by France-based rival Qonto.
- The Paypers reported on developments on fintech innovation in the CEE region.
Middle East and Northern Africa
- Sudan-based fintech Bloom secured $6.5 million in seed funding.
- Israel’s Open-Finance.ai teamed up with FICO, combining open banking with real-time credit assessment to improve the originations process.
- Saudi Arabia-based fintech FOODICS inked strategic partnership with Alinma Bank.
Central and Southern Asia
- Pakistan introduced mobile app to enable online payment for passports.
- Indian neobank for SMEs, FloBiz, launched its e-invoicing service.
- YAP Pakistan announced a strategic partnership with Faysal Bank in the wake of securing in-principle approval for an Electronic Money Institution license.