Pensionbee seeks to break into largest defined contribution pension market with US launch
Pensionbee announced the official launch of its US business as it seeks to break into the world’s largest defined contribution pension market.
In a stock exchange announcement, the listed fintech confirmed that its US subsidiary has been registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and entered a “strategic agreement” with State Street Global Advisors.
Under the agreement, Pensionbee has selected a range of investment portfolios offered to customers using State Street’s model portfolios. State Street will “provide meaningful market supporting” to PensionBee as it attempts to attract new customers.
Pensionbee hopes that its technology will enable US consumers to easily consolidate their retirement plans.
The firm hopes that its US business will “grow rapidly” and it has set a target to administer $20-25bn in US defined contribution assets over the next decade. The US defined contribution market represents around 80 per cent of the global total and is worth $22.5trn.
In the UK, Pensionbee has approximately £4.9bn in assets under administration on behalf of 240,000 customers. The firm said it aims to continue to grow in the UK too, and hopes to take on one million customers over the next 5-10 years.
“We are delighted to expand the reach of our award-winning customer proposition, innovative technology platform and unique marketing approach to the US market,” Romi Savova, CEO of Pensionbee, said.
“By entering the world’s largest defined contribution pension market, where many consumers still struggle to prepare adequately for retirement amidst an array of confusing and opaque investment options, our unique and simple approach to online retirement savings will resonate,” she continued.
“Our collaboration with Pensionbee will enable millions of Americans to have access to model portfolios built with our ETFs in individual retirement accounts managed by Pensionbee,” Yie-Hsin Hung, chief executive of State Street Global Advisors said.