Robo-wars: Investec axes Click & Invest
If Nutmeg’s increasingly desperate need for cash wasn’t evidence enough, the closure of Click & Invest has proven how hard it is for robo-advisers to make money. These platforms offer relatively low investment management fees compared to traditional financial advisers (although still not as low as simply buying a tracker fund) and are having to spend excessively on marketing to attract new users. The outlook therefore looks pretty bleak.
Investec has decided to close its robo-adviser Click & Invest, just two years after launch. The company has written down £20m of investment in the venture after revealing that “the appetite for investment services such as ours remains low and the market itself is growing at a much slower rate than expected”. It seems a shame Investec has given up so quickly. In March we conducted a thorough review of the robo-advisers and declared Click & Invest far and away the best of the UK’s offering. At the time we wrote: “The company doesn’t pretend to be as cheap as a passive…