27 July 2023
Fintel, the leading provider of fintech and support services to the UK retail financial services sector, today announced the acquisition of Competent Adviser, the UK’s fastest growing digital knowledge and competence management system.
Competent Adviser was founded in 2003 and currently provides compliance and development training to over 15,000 users, supporting the completion of nearly 500,000 tests per year. The market-leading system provides users with the ability to manage their T&C processes in a cost-effective, efficient manner and enables them to demonstrate individual competencies on an ongoing, fully compliant, basis. The business serves several of the UK’s most prominent financial organisations and has won the prestigious Gamechanger awards for ‘UK Learning Management System of the Year’, ‘UK Competency Testing Firm of the Year’ and ‘UK CPD Provider of the Year’ for the past two years running.
This acquisition demonstrates further strategic progress at Fintel, strengthening its technology and data proposition, as it continues to grow its business.
Commenting on the acquisition, Neil Stevens, Joint CEO of Fintel, said:
“Fintel has worked with Competent Adviser for nearly a decade, and we know how much advisers’ value its simplicity, the flexibility of its modules, and the relevance of its content.
“We selected Competent Adviser as the first investment to be integrated into Fintel IQ – our new regulatory and business support platform – as its ethos and values align perfectly to our own. It will help us to address the vitally important and increasing need of dynamic competency and knowledge management for both advisers and providers.
“The acquisition will enable tailored content and further system integrations to deliver even more relevance for each user and ensure efficient integration with other adviser software systems. The more streamlined we can help to make advisers’ processes, the more time will be freed up to spend with clients and, ultimately, ensure better outcomes for all.”
Gillian Tait of Competent Adviser, added:
“Being part of the Fintel family will enable us to develop deeper system integrations, invest in a wider scope of learning materials, and help us reach even more businesses across the UK. We have worked closely with Fintel for a number of years and share similar cultures and ambitions to drive better outcomes for all of our customers.”
Competent Adviser is the first acquisition through the fintech and support services provider’s ‘Fintel IQ’ arm. Fintel IQ is a technology and solutions hub, designed to acquire and develop a connected regulatory and business support platform that can be used across Fintel’s customer channels.
Fintel is the UK's leading fintech and support services business, combining the largest provider of intermediary business support, SimplyBiz, and the leading research, ratings and Fintech business, Defaqto.
Fintel provides technology, compliance and regulatory support to thousands of intermediary businesses, data and targeted distribution services to hundreds of product providers and empowers millions of consumers to make better informed financial decisions. We serve our customers through three core divisions:
The Intermediary Services division provides technology, compliance, and regulatory support to thousands of intermediary businesses through a comprehensive membership model. Members include directly authorised IFAs, Wealth Managers and Mortgage Brokers.
The Distribution Channels division delivers market Insight and analysis and targeted distribution strategies to financial institutions and product providers. Clients include major Life and Pension companies, Investment Houses, Banks, and Building Societies.
The Fintech and Research division (Defaqto) provides market leading software, financial information and product research to product providers and intermediaries. Defaqto also provides product ratings (Star Ratings) on thousands of financial products. Financial products are expertly reviewed by the Defaqto research team and are compared and rated based on their underlying features and benefits. Defaqto ratings help consumers compare and buy financial products with confidence.
For more information about Fintel, please visit the website: www.wearefintel.com