Fintech specialist Fintel (FNTL) has expanded key product lines under its Defaqto brand in response to ongoing changes to consumer protection regulation, following steady growth in demand for its Risk Ratings and Investment Reviews over the last three years.
Defaqto’s independent risk mapping services are mainly used by wealth managers and financial advisers as an aid to building clients’ portfolios. Evolving regulation has seen Risk Ratings extended to cover more than 1,500 financial products, while Investment Reviews now covers 400, combining qualitative and quantitative analysis of investment ideas.
Defaqto – acquired by Fintel in 2019 - now offers the largest database in the UK, and along with sister company SimplyBiz offers regulatory support to 3,000 intermediary customers. The Defaqto Star Ratings brand is recognised by 75% of consumers as a tool for judging the quality of investment products.
John Milliken, Defaqto CEO commented: ''As we enter a new regulatory era of Consumer Duty and Fair Value Pricing, Defaqto is uniquely positioned to support product providers such as banks and general insurers in designing appropriate products and evidencing the suitability and quality of their propositions.”
The company said that the incoming Consumer Duty regulation is likely to further increase the focus on making sure that consumers are sold the right financial products, and that it was continuing to invest in Defaqto’s research services as a key component of Fintel’s strategic growth plans.