Fidelity International today announces its acquisition of Legal & General Investment Management’s (LGIM) UK Personal Investing business. The acquisition will form part of Fidelity’s Personal Investing platform.

The acquisition will double the number of customers for Fidelity’s Personal Investing business. The LGIM UK Personal Investing business comprises almost 300,000 customers with £5.8bn assets under management. Fidelity Personal Investing has 280,000 customers with £20.3bn assets under management. The transaction is expected to complete in the next 12 months.

On transfer, customers will pay the same or less than they do today and as part of Fidelity Personal Investing, they will benefit from having access to the full capability of its investment and pension platform. This includes its entire range of over 3,000 funds, shares, investment trusts and exchange-traded funds which can be held in an ISA, SIPP or Investment Account.

They will also benefit from Fidelity’s online guidance services, its range of investment tools as well as market news, daily insights and in-depth analysis to stay up to date with the latest investment news. Furthermore, they will be able to download Fidelity’s free iOS and Android apps to check their investments on the go.

Stuart Welch, Global Head of Personal Investing and Advisory, Fidelity International, said: “This is an exciting acquisition for us. It follows our recent purchase of Cavendish Online Investments Limited and reflects our ambition and commitment to the UK direct investor market.

“Our platform is designed to help investors achieve their long-term financial goals and we provide guidance and support at every life stage. Our Wealth and retirement planning services, guidance service and tools will help those who want to make the most of their retirement savings and investments.  We look forward to welcoming LGIM’s customers and helping them meet their financial goals.”

Michelle Scrimgeour, chief executive officer at Legal & General Investment Management, said: “This transaction is a positive step for LGIM and particularly for our direct to consumer business. It optimises the strategic fit between two highly-regarded organisations and in particular supports customers, who now gain Fidelity International’s scale and operational capacity in these specific products while continuing to benefit from the LGIM investment expertise which underpinned their original product purchase.”

Source: Fidelity