Smart has broken through the £5bn assets under management (AUM) barrier on its proprietary Keystone platform.
Smart’s AUM has more than doubled since January 2022, with a year-on-year increase of 117 per cent, a more than twenty-fold increase from the £210m it managed in December 2018.
Launched in July 2022, Keystone is described by Smart as the world’s first global, cloud-native, workplace retirement savings platform. The platform powers retirement savings solutions outside the UK, including auto enrolment rollouts in several states in the US and a partnership with the global insurer Zurich on the government workplace saving scheme for Dubai.
Smart says it expects to grow further as a result of recently passed legislation in the US, known as SECURE 2.0. Following on from the original SECURE Act, the recent legislation provides enhanced incentives for small businesses to offer retirement plans to their employees, as well as provides key provisions for delivering in-plan income in retirement, both of which are key areas of strength for Smart. Last year Smart acquired Stadion Money Management, which provides retirement technology services across the US.
Smart also owns and operates the Smart Pension Master Trust, which has over a million members. Last October, it acquired £158m in assets from over 5,100 members in the Ensign Master Trust.
Organic growth has also been key in the UK, with more than 70,000 businesses now managing their employees’ retirement savings through Smart Pension. Last year, Smart Pension signed up thousands of ‘self employed plus’ couriers at Evri, the biggest dedicated parcel delivery company in the UK and also signed up the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), a UK executive non-departmental public body.
Andrew Evans, group CEO and co-founder of Smart, says: “More people than ever are now saving their money through Smart, and the strength of our platform has been an important driver of that. Our platform is scalable, cost-effective and can manage retirement savings seamlessly. For retirement savers around the world, this is a unique and incredibly compelling proposition. This is a $62 trillion global sector waiting to be disrupted, and we are uniquely positioned to take advantage of that.”
Will Wynne, group MD and co-founder of Smart, says: “Accelerating through the milestone of £5bn AUM is a testament to the strength and resilience of our business. There have been challenges with political uncertainty, inflation and the rising cost of living, but this makes Smart’s work even more important as we help people towards better financial futures across the globe.”