Clicksco and My Pension Expert to merge ahead of pension reforms
Clicksco Financial Services, the finance arm of international digital data agency Clicksco Group, has merged with specialist pension annuities advisory firm My Pension Expert to create a new financial services venture.
The merger is expected to create more jobs at My Pension Expert's Doncaster headquarters with a proposed 40 per cent staff increase and is linked in part to the pension reforms due in April.
The merger will combine My Pension Expert's finance and sales function with Clicksco's lead generation and online marketing services to create My Expert Holdings. The aim is for the company to take market share for both advice and product sales. It will build on My Pension Expert's base of private customers.
The alliance comes shortly after Clicksco Group announced the appointment of finance and investment expert John Townsend to its board and ahead of major UK pension reforms this April. It signals the company's financial services portfolio expansion; complementing pension annuities with products and advice in the areas of wills, insurance and mortgages.
Mark Nosworthy, chief executive of Clicksco Financial Services, said: "My Pension Expert has been employing our lead generation services for the past eighteen months and during this time our two businesses have built a mutual respect. We have watched while the brand has firmly established itself as a trusted and knowledgeable advisory organisation and with the pension reforms coming into effect this year, that reputation has never been more important."
{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}
"The decision to establish My Expert Holdings gives us an excellent foothold in the financial services industry, allowing us to build on our trusted customer base and develop it further to support a greater numbers of UK consumers, in the at retirement market and through our ever growing portfolio of product and advice services."
Scott Mullen, director at My Pension Expert, added: "This merger helps safeguard the My Pension Expert brand. My Expert Holdings will be a force to be reckoned with in the financial services industry."
Established in 2009, Dubai-headquartered Clicksco Group employs over 200 people in 14 countries, including three offices in the UK.
The Clicksco Group has enjoyed an average 26% growth over the past four years and is globally renowned for its customer lead generation, web search, comparison shopping and affiliate marketing services, working alongside partners including Google, Yahoo and Amazon. As an investor, it also supports high-growth technology start-ups through a number of funds.