Defaqto has confirmed it is rebuilding the group’s data architecture and plans to provide more universal data to the market, the group’s CEO, John Milliken, has stated.

Speaking to MoneyAge, Milliken said data is becoming increasingly more important across financial services, and revealed the company is in the process of refreshing and expanding its data on products, providers, consumers, and wider factors impacting consumer behaviour and product development.

Defaqto is part of the Fintel group of companies which has given it the investment to embark on a programme to refresh its technology across the business.

As a result of the data rebuild within Defaqto, Milliken also told MoneyAge that the group will take on “significantly more data” than it has been known for historically and is “headed to provide much more universal data to the market”.

“This will include data around pricing, services, and overarching propositions, as well as data about customers and sales and marketing, so for example which product features are most relevant for each customer segment,” Milliken said. “This universal data will also include macro data, covering areas from interest rates to even the weather, which can have a surprising impact on people’s propensity to buy certain products.

“We’re looking to introduce more sophisticated and more personalised ratings, rather than having the universal Defaqto five-star rating for a particular product. With more data we’ll be able to expose more relevant products to customers who may have particular circumstances.

“This will give us more value in the product optimisation space. New data can enable the providers to properly benchmark their offerings on a multitude of different axis, so they can really see where they sit in the market.”

The data rebuild comes during a busy time for Defaqto, which last month introduced a new MPS comparison tool to the market in a UK first that will allow advisers to compare like-for-like portfolios.

Milliken also confirmed to MoneyAge that the group has “much more planned for later in the year” around how it uses to data through its Engage platform, which provides end-to-end financial planning for more than 30% of financial paraplanners and IFAs in the UK. This currently equates to £50bn of investment recommendations per year through Engage.

“We’ll work more closely with advisers and hopefully help them be more efficient so they can instead have more facetime with their end-clients,” Milliken added.

He pointed toward Defaqto’s recognition among UK consumers, with group research showing that 72% of the public said they recognise the Defaqto brand.

“The Defaqto brand helps the adviser in the conversation they have with their client. A lot of feedback we get from advisers is around the fact we shouldn’t ignore the conversations they are having with their clients, and their ability to explain the complex financial services market to those clients to get them to accept the recommendations and act on that basis.

“Our brand helps in that circumstance because having our independent view, on top of the adviser’s opinion, gives that bit more confidence to the customer.”

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