Barclays has launched a digital advice service for its current account customers with a minimum of £5,000 to invest.
In an update today (July 14) the banking giant said it hoped the move would help close the much-talked about advice gap.
Barclays has launched the Plan & Invest service offering active and passive funds through a managed portfolio to customers in partnership with robo-adviser Scalable Capital.
The robo-advice service will charge an ongoing annual fee of between 1.39 per cent and 1.59 per cent, but Barclays said it will not charge customers until money has been invested into their account.
Plan & Invest promises to create a "personalised investment plan" for customers, which will then be managed by the banking giant.
Service costs are fixed at 0.95 per cent, excluding VAT, and product costs range from between 0.25 and 0.45 per cent.
Barclays has promised to get in touch with clients at least once a year to check suitability and ensure customers are making the most of their tax allowances.
The advice service will initially be piloted to Barclays current account customers with a minimum of £5,000 to invest.
It can be accessed by customers through online banking, accompanied by phone support, but Barclays said it had plans to launch the service on its app later this summer.
Dirk Klee, chief executive of wealth management and investments at Barclays, said: "Over the last few months, we’ve seen a rise in the number of people wanting to invest for the first time and it feels more important than ever that we give people the right tools and advice to plan for their financial future."
Mr Klee said Barclays launched the service in response to customer demand for the "convenience and affordability" of robo-advice with the "personalisation of wealth management".
He added: "I firmly believe that everyone should have access to affordable advice and Plan & Invest is just the first step in our plans to open up the tools we use with our wealth clients to more people."
In 2017 Barclays launched a direct-to-consumer investment service pitted to rival robo-advice, allowing customers to build a portfolio by investing in a single Barclays fund.
The Ready Made Investments service offers five ready-made investment funds, with Barclays stating on its website customers "don’t need to be an expert" to invest.
rachel.mortimer@ft.com
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