FE Investments removes VAT as AUM reaches £4bn

With assets under management now exceeding £4bn, FE Investments has reduced its charges on its portfolio ranges by removing VAT

Leading Discretionary Managed Portfolio Service (MPS) provider FE Investments has reduced its charges by removing VAT payments.

FE Investments, which is the investments arm of global fund data company FE fundinfo, has initiated the changes on all of the platforms it works with. The removal of VAT payments will apply to all of its portfolios, including its Hybrid, Mosaic, Responsibly Managed and Income ranges.

The removal of VAT payments comes as FE Investments has continued its impressive growth since its formation in 2015, with assets under management (AUM) reaching more than £4bn in the first quarter of 2021. This has increased from £3bn just nine months previously. Additionally, the firm has also significantly increased its presence on third party platforms in recent months and its range of managed portfolios are now available to advisers using 14 different investment platforms.

Having been formed as an investment consultancy to advisers in 2012, FE Investments has grown significantly each year and has won several awards for its risk targeted approach, including ‘Best Model Portfolio Service’ at the 2020 and 2019 Professional Adviser Awards.

Recently, the company also launched a specialist sustainable investment reporting offering for retail investors. The new reports which are available for FE Investments’ Responsibly Managed portfolio range include information that helps investors understand the impact their investments are having, including an environmental overview of the portfolio (including measurements relating to fossil fuels, nuclear power, green energy and pollution prevention), exposure to controversial industries (such as alcohol and tobacco) and key social and governance metrics (such as gender and ethnic diversity breakdowns at executive level within underlying holdings).

Rob Gleeson, Chief Investment Officer at FE Investments, said:

“We are pleased to announce we will no longer have VAT applied to our range of portfolios. Our risk-targeted approach has been much in demand among advisers over the past year as the markets have suffered from periods of extreme volatility. By reducing our fees through the removal of VAT charges, we are making our offering even more competitive so even more end investors can benefit from our investment approach.”

Mark Chanda, Head of Adviser Sales at FE fundinfo, said:

“Despite the challenging market conditions over the past year, it has been incredibly pleasing to have been able to continue our year-on-year growth. Reaching £4bn of assets under management is an important milestone, especially considering we reached £3bn just 9 months ago. Even more so in these volatile times, advisers are increasingly attracted to our risk-adjusted portfolios, which do not make market calls, but instead seek to manage risk. With our managed portfolios now available on more platforms than ever before and our reduction in charges, we are looking forward to the next 12 months; working with and supporting our adviser clients throughout their growth journey.”