Aegon drops Cofunds brand as platform integration takes next step

Aegon UK has announced that it is dropping the Cofunds brand as it moves users onto an upgraded version of its platform.

After acquiring Cofunds in August last year, Edinburgh-based Aegon has been working on integrating the platform with its Aegon Retirement Choices offering, bringing many of Cofunds’ features into it.

The technology upgrade to integrate the two platforms is based on combining the best of both the Cofunds and Aegon services on its proven platform technology rather than building a new platform from scratch.

Natural income, a feature currently available on the Cofunds platform will go live to ARC users shortly, the Ageon said.

As Cofunds’ features are increasingly built into Aegon’s technology, the business is able to release them to its existing users.

Aegon UK, which employs 2000 at its Edinburgh Park headquarters, said natural income will enable clients to be paid dividend income from their investments separately from any capital growth.

Ultimately both Aegon and Cofunds users will transition to an enhanced version of the Aegon platform, but given Aegon users will not start moving till later next year, the business took the decision to release some of the technology upgrade benefits early.

Cofunds users will move to the enhanced platform in the coming months and ahead of the change, training for advisers will begin shortly enabling them to familiarise themselves with the new website.

As retail advisers and their clients move to a single technology the business has decided to simplify its platform offer under a single Aegon brand that will build on Cofunds’ heritage in investments and Aegon’s heritage in pensions. Over time the Cofunds brand will be gradually withdrawn as users begin moving over to the new version of the platform.

Mark Till, Chief Distribution and Marketing Officer said: “The integration of the Cofunds and Aegon platforms is progressing well and we’re a few months away from users of Cofunds moving to the latest version of the Aegon platform which combines the best of both the existing services. Given Aegon users won’t move to the new platform until later next year, we wanted to release some of the benefits of the integration to them early and they’ll soon have access to the natural income feature.

“The project to integrate the two businesses is entering a new phase now as we begin training advisers to use the platform. As we integrate our business, we will eventually offer the same technology and service to all our customers. In order to provide a consistent and unified service to advisers, it makes sense to brand the service simply as Aegon. Brand is about a lot more than just a name or a website colour scheme, it’s about what you stand for as a business. Cofunds has a proud heritage as an investment business and Aegon in pensions. What we’re creating is a business which builds on both specialisms and puts advisers and their clients front and centre in its thinking. Our focus is squarely on listening to the needs of the people who use our services in order to help them grow their business with better tools and processes that make their lives easier.”