Paddington fintech hits £50m funding milestone with new backing from J.P. Morgan

Tech-led workplace pensions provider Smart Pension has secured investment from J.P. Morgan.

The financial services giant has taken a minority equity stake in the Paddington-based fintech company, which has now raised around £50m in funding to date.

Smart Pension is raising capital as it brings its savings platform technology to new overseas markets.

In October 2018, the firm won a competitive tender to provide its offering to New Ireland Assurance, one of the foremost life insurance, pensions and investment businesses in Ireland.

Smart Pension is now in early-stage talks with new strategic partners globally.

Andrew Evans, the co-founder and CEO of Smart Pension, said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment from J.P. Morgan, as it signifies a positive step in our growth and international reach.

“From the outset our objective has been to put user engagement and experience at the heart of everything we do, utilising technology to build an unrivalled platform.”

He added: “Our journey has just started, the opportunities to disrupt and do things differently in this sector are staggering, and we will be leading the way.”

Smart Pension’s managing director, co-founder Will Wynne, commented: “In October we won our first international competitive tender to build a savings technology platform in Ireland.

“This gives us an opportunity to demonstrate how our unique proprietary dynamic technology is plugging a huge gap in the workplace savings platform market, and performing on a global scale.”

He continued: “We are now in early stage conversations with new strategic partners as the world’s financial institutions grapple with regulatory change and legacy technology.”

As part of the deal, Anne Lester, global head of retirement solutions for J.P. Morgan Asset Management, is taking a non-executive seat on Smart’s board.

Ms Lester said: “We are investing in pensions and savings solutions and technology capabilities to help investors achieve better financial outcomes, reinforcing our commitment to putting clients first in every aspect of our business.

“Smart Pension has demonstrated how financial technology can have a positive impact by making it easier both for people to save for retirement and for companies to offer pension plans to their employees.”