Advice-led wealth manager Atomos has entered into an agreement with Willis Towers Watson (WTW) to access its funds managers and research.
The deal will see WTW provide multi-asset investment solutions for Atomos’s UK retail investment portfolios.
Atomos, which rebranded from Sanlam Wealth in September, will be able to access fund managers not usually available to retail clients, access to WTW’s “thought leadership”, as well as its investment management and risk control expertise.
The support will be provided across five of Atomos’s existing funds, including its multi-asset fund solutions, as well as its model portfolio solutions and discretionary portfolio fund management.
Head of investments at Atomos, Haig Bathgate, said the company wanted to strengthen its proposition amid the challenges of a new market environment.
“Bringing in WTW’s vast global expertise in investments across all geographies and asset classes, as well as their industry leading investment research and portfolio management, enables our clients to benefit from institutional economies of scale and expertise,” he said.
“The breadth of investment expertise available at WTW is beyond anything else available in the wealth management market and the company has a track record of driving down investment costs, helping enhance investor returns.”
Bathgate added that Atomos is aiming to become the first “truly hybrid” wealth manager.
Head of investments at WTW, Mark Calnan, said the company is enabling Atomos to provide their clients with access to a broader, more diversified set of asset classes.
“[Atomos’s] leadership team has identified that the current approach to investment management in the retail market is not serving the needs of its clients; and they have been brave in taking action.
“We are confident others will follow, recognising that the most effective way to generate the savings outcomes retail clients need is to outsource to third parties like WTW who have the scale, investment rigour and dedicated resources to continue to deliver investment returns throughout the market cycle, not just when markets are rising.”
sally.hickey@ft.com
