The group director of insurance and wealth at Lloyds Banking Group said the company wants to grow its personal pensions and investment arm to more than £100bn ($137bn, €117bn).
Antonio Lorenzo, who is also chief executive of Scottish Widows, told the Mail on Sunday that the bank plans to take on Hargreaves Lansdown and wants to build its own version of the Hargreaves platform, Lloyds confirmed to International Adviser.
He said: “We have only around 3% of the direct-to-consumer pensions and investments market.
“Every year, more than £10bn is moved from Lloyds to personal pension providers. Our ambition is that in three to five years, we want to grow to more than 10%.
“Hargreaves Lansdown has [more than] £100bn assets. In Embark, we will have in the region of £60bn. Our ambition is to be north of £100bn in the near term.”
Robo-advisers and Sipps
In July 2021, the bank agreed to acquire UK investment and retirement platform business Embark Group for £390m.
Lorenzo said that the group wants to use Embark’s technology to launch a robo-adviser that will guide customers on how to select funds and products.
The bank also plans to use the technology to bolster its self-invested personal pension operation.
The report said that the aim is to provide the products through customers’ banking apps, so they will be able to easily shift money from their current account or savings into the retirement products.
