WealthOS, the cloud-native operating system for digital wealth management products, has launched its new solution for providers of Self-Invested Personal Pension accounts (SIPPs) in the U.K.
Its technology delivers immediate end-to-end benefits from an operating model that is 40% cheaper to run than existing systems and enables three times faster product innovation.
WealthOS delivers a much needed digital upgrade to SIPP providers with easy to navigate, well designed user interfaces for operational users and a highly scalable platform to cater for elastic demand from customers. The software automates SIPP management and maintenance, reducing costs and the operational risks that manual processing can carry. The cloud-native platform allows providers to select all or some of the modules in WealthOS’s end-to-end SIPP solution.
The launch of WealthOS’s SIPP solution coincides with the 10th anniversary of the announcement of the U.K.’s Pension Freedoms reforms, which gave consumers greater choice and control of their retirement savings. Pension Freedoms helped grow the SIPP market to 1.7 million investors with portfolios exceeding £200 billion as many savers consolidated their pension pots into one product. A survey conducted by My Pension Expert during the 2022-2023 financial year showed, however, that transfers of pensions into SIPPs took on average 29 days and as long as four months to complete.
Indeed, SIPP customers' frustrations centre on the delays in gaining control of their money, including making the partial cash withdrawals allowed by Pension Freedoms. This is chiefly because of cumbersome analogue procedures and slow handling of transfers into and out of accounts. Such delays impact savers’ ability to invest, potentially leading them to miss opportunities, and may deter some from consolidating their retirement savings.
Anton Padmasiri, Founder and CEO of WealthOS, said: “The SIPP industry has been slow to digitalise middle and back office functions to seize the full business potential unlocked by Pension Freedoms. For savers rushing to use their annual SIPP allowance before the end of the tax year, too many will encounter delays caused by shortcomings in providers’ management systems. Our technology will help address these common pain points head-on.
“For innovative providers keen to introduce new offerings, our easy to connect, maintain and integrate platform accelerates the time to market for new SIPP products. From our testing feedback, providers are excited to be able to fully digitalise their offering, put their frustrations behind them, and be able to provide an altogether better service.”
Legacy systems generally struggle to handle essential SIPP account management tasks, including the tax claims/deductions, managing transfers and drawdowns, onboarding and collecting fees. The complex nature of these financial products, coupled with the fragmented silos of legacy systems and procedures, often result in providers carrying out these processes manually or through a tangled web of physical and virtual processes. Furthermore, regulatory and compliance updates and obligations add another layer of frustration for providers as they endeavour to keep pace.
Fortnightly releases ensure that WealthOS’ SIPP solution always runs using the most recent software, removing time-consuming upgrades and potentially costly downtimes for maintenance. It updates with any changes to the U.K.’s pensions framework and is designed to facilitate connectivity to the Pension Dashboard, scheduled for October 2026, so individuals will be able to access pensions information online, securely and all in one place.
Harnessing the power of APIs (application programming interfaces), WealthOS’s cloud-native platform enables data to flow internally and externally seamlessly while also allowing clients to integrate with other third-party suppliers easily. WealthOS allows SIPP providers to offer interactive services to their customers across any digital channel, equipping them to comply with the good customer experience objectives of the U.K.’s Consumer Duty regulations, which came into force in July 2023.
Among the solution’s key features is the Unified Transfer Manager, which is compatible with all major platforms. It simplifies monitoring the progress of transfers into and out of SIPPs and ensures account holders are kept informed. Other features include automated client onboarding, with integrations to know-your-client (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) vendors; and full integration with the government’s HMRC portal for automating relief at source (RAS) claims, tax code searches and tax-deducted pension payslips for drawdowns.
Quai Digital, the provider of B2B wealth management white label outsourcing services, is the first client to integrate the SIPP solution as part of its broader integration of WealthOS’s wealth management platform.
Tony Webb, CEO of Quai Digital, said: “The SIPP market presents exciting growth opportunities as more consumers consolidate their pension pots and take control of their retirement planning. We're also witnessing a significant shift towards utilising SIPPs for drawdown. Finding robust technology that can digitalise the drawdown experience for our customers, however, has proven challenging. WealthOS excels in their fully digital drawdown capabilities, setting themselves apart from current technology providers and making them the natural choice for us. We're excited to integrate this new solution from WealthOS, our strategic technology partner, into our wider platform, to allow the industry to digitalise pension management processes faster and more efficiently.”