Acumen Financial Planning’s parent, The Financial Planning Group, has launched a subscription-based, online financial advice service aimed at younger professionals “priced out” of independent financial advice with fees starting from £75.

The online service is called SpringGen and has been pioneered by north-east-Scotland-based Financial Planner Jenny Madhoo.

She has spent 10 years working at traditional financial services companies, most recently as a Chartered Financial Planner with Acumen Financial Planning which is based in Westhill, Aberdeenshire.

SpringGen is aimed at 'Generation Y and Z clients' who, the Financial Planning group said, “often feel priced out of financial advice.”

Fees start at £75 for 'MoneyInsights' and run to an initial fee of £375 for MoneyManagement plus a £25 monthly subscription. 

The full fee schedule for SpringGen as shown on the website is:

"MoneyInsights from £75

• Improve your financial wellbeing & confidence by educating yourself on key money topics
• Bitesize videos that tell it how it is, no fancy jargon or patronising lectures
• Videos for guidance available at any time to suit you
• All you need-to know information in one safe space, from a trustworthy source
• Prices from £75

MoneyActionPlan from £195

• Services to help you get organised, take stock and make a plan for what you want to do next
• Sense check yourself and whether you’re on the right track to where you want to be
• Your own personal action plan creating concrete steps to push you towards your goals
• 100% digital and convenient
• Starting from £195

MoneyManagement from £375

• Helping you take your first step into the world of investing, with advice that’s easy to understand and support that’s there when you need it
• Services that grow with you & do the heavy lifting for you
• Affordable and convenient financial advice for a new generation of investors
• 100% digital and convenient
• Initial cost from £375
• Monthly subscriptions from £25"

SpringGen has been in development for 18 months with support from departments across The Financial Planning Group in disciplines such as Financial Planning, client support, IT, processes and marketing. It will provide a range of independent financial advice.

While the team is based in Aberdeenshire, the target market is the whole of the UK. The company hopes to become the “go-to firm for qualified financial advice at an affordable price” for young adults.

Only 6% of 18-34 year old have sought financial advice, according to research from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The FCA’s Financial Lives survey, published in February, said the largest proportional increase in low financial resilience (40% or more) has been among those aged 18 to 54-years-old, particularly younger adults in the 18-34 group.

Ms Madhoo said: “These are people moving ahead and building successful careers, closing in on home ownership, thinking about a pension, considering where they might invest their money.

“In short, they’ve reached a stage where they do need the services of an independent financial advise, but perhaps they haven’t, purely because of their age, accumulated enough money for these organisations to consider taking them on as clients.

We know too, through FCA research, that Gen Y and Z are likely to look to digital tools to access the financial support they need. And that is the guiding principle behind SpringGen, giving people the ability to go online and choose the package that suits them. All the while with complete visibility of how much it’ll cost.”

• Editor's Note April 2022: Due to a trademark issue the original launch name in 2021 of SpringGen - Beanstalk - was subsequently changed. We have therefore changed references to Beanstalk to SpringGen to reflect the current name.