Exclusive: Cushon closes £35m funding round to shake up ‘boring’ UK pensions
Workplace savings fintech Cushon has closed a £35m fundraising round and doubled its assets under management (AUM) to £1.7bn with a new acquisition as it looks to shake up “complicated and boring” UK pensions.
The new round of investment, led by existing investors including venture capital firms Augmentum Fintech and AshGrove Capital, takes the total capital raised by Cushon over the last two years to £61m.
The London-based fintech firm has also more than doubled its AUM to £1.7bn through the acquisition of the Creative Pension Trust, a workplace pension scheme, which now makes it the fifth largest master trust pension provider in the UK.
Ben Pollard, CEO and founder of Cushon, told City PM: “Right now, long-term savings are simply too complicated, boring, and disconnected from things people care deeply about. Cushon is here to change that, and today’s announcement is a hugely significant milestone for us.”
Pollard says the firm is looking to drive a more sustainable focus on investment in the UK pensions market – the third largest in the world with a total of £2.58 trillion invested.
He said: “A big issue with pensions is that people are far removed from the underlying investments that their pension is ultimately invested in.
“If you were to ask the average person where their pension is invested in, the majority would probably name the pension provider, and a few might be able to name the actual funds they’re invested in.”
Cushon’s net zero investment strategy, he said, aimed to help more people understand their pension investments as a “force for good”.
The firm will channel the new funding toward accelerating its growth and introducing new features to its app including a tracking service for lost pensions and support for people to draw their pension at retirement.