ClearGlass Analytics Secures $3.6M to Enhance Pension Fund Transparency

ClearGlass Analytics Secures £2.6 Million Funding for Fee Transparency Platform

ClearGlass Analytics, a fintech startup, has successfully completed a funding round of £2.6 million (equivalent to $3.6 million). The capital will be utilized to enhance its platform, designed to provide increased clarity regarding fees within the long-term savings sector.

Investment Details

The £2.6 million seed funding was led by European venture capital firm Lakestar and Outward VC. Additionally, the round included contributions from a number of angel investors with experience in asset management and pension funds.

Notable angel investors include Ruston Smith, a pension trustee; Richard Butcher, who chairs the PLSA (the U.K.’s pension trade association); Chris Wilcox, previously Global Head of JP Morgan Asset Management; and Rob O’Rahilly, Sikander Ilyas, and Alex Large, all formerly of JP Morgan.

Market Focus and Expansion

ClearGlass is initially focused on the £1.5 trillion mature “Defined Benefit” pension schemes market. The company currently collaborates with over 500 DB pension funds.

The newly acquired funding will facilitate expansion into the U.K. Defined Contribution pension market. Furthermore, it will support the consolidation of the company’s presence in both Europe and Africa.

How the Platform Operates

ClearGlass functions as a data intermediary, connecting asset managers with their clients. Pension funds leverage the platform to consolidate their investment costs into a single view.

This centralized approach provides funds with more comprehensive data from a wider range of asset managers and service providers. Consequently, funds gain a clearer understanding of the “true cost” associated with investment management.

ClearGlass asserts its ability to identify asset management costs that can, in certain cases, exceed expectations by a factor of two.

Recent Analysis and Findings

A recent analysis conducted by the startup evaluated the cost and performance of over 400 asset managers.

While the majority of U.K. asset managers met the minimum standards for data delivery, quality, and accuracy, 30 firms – including several prominent organizations – failed to meet these criteria.

Founding Team

The company was established by Dr. Christopher Sier, a specialist with the World Bank and FCA, who previously developed a cost transparency standard at the FCA’s request.

He is joined by co-founders Ritesh Singhania and Kunal Varma.

CEO Statement

According to Sier, founder and CEO, “Discovering that costs are significantly higher than anticipated is both surprising and positive. These additional costs were consistently present, but previously unrevealed. Now, they can be identified and addressed. Effective management requires accurate measurement.”

Operational Challenges and Solutions

In a discussion with TechCrunch, Ritesh Singhania, COO, explained that obtaining data from pension funds is typically “extremely difficult and complex.”

He further noted that even when data is acquired, its interpretation can be challenging due to a lack of comparability across funds. ClearGlass has established itself as a communication channel between asset managers and pension funds.

The company’s technology facilitates data collection, verification, and presentation in a readily understandable format, reducing the time required for analysis from potentially 20 hours to a manageable timeframe.

Incubation

ClearGlass benefited from incubation support provided by the Founders Factory accelerator.

Early Stage Event Information

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