Aventur and GayWealth form UK advice service for LGBT+ clients

Aventur has entered a strategic partnership with GayWealth to provide specialist financial advice for LGBT+ clients in the UK, the companies announced. The service will operate through GayWealth.com, connecting clients with advisers working under Aventur’s regulatory infrastructure.

The initiative is aimed at areas where the companies say LGBT+ clients can face gaps in mainstream advice, including mortgages and protection, retirement and investment planning, joint applications for same-sex couples, non-traditional family structures, financial planning around transition and later-life wealth planning.

GayWealth founder Zoë Chowney will lead the specialist offering. Chowney is a qualified accountant, entrepreneur and trans woman, and has held senior roles at Allianz, AIG and Kenshoo, according to the announcement. She is also a Freeman of the City of London, founder and co-chair of Pride in Business, and the first openly transgender woman co-chair of the Gay Women’s Network.

Advice model

The companies said GayWealth.com will act as the client-facing route into the service, while Aventur provides the regulatory framework within which advisers operate. In UK financial advice, that infrastructure is central to how advice is authorised, supervised and delivered to clients, including controls around suitability and regulated product recommendations.

Aventur describes itself as a values-led financial advice firm. GayWealth is positioned as a dedicated advice service for LGBT+ clients, with the partnership intended to combine Aventur’s regulated structure with Chowney’s specialist knowledge and community links.

Chowney said she founded GayWealth after being unable to find the type of financial advice she needed during her own transition. “Our community deserves advisers who understand their lives and can provide genuine, regulated guidance without judgement,” she said. “Partnering with Aventur means we can reach far more people and make a tangible difference.”

Financial access issues

The companies said LGBT+ people in the UK are less likely to hold life insurance or retirement savings and can face added difficulty with joint mortgage applications, family arrangements outside traditional models, protection needs and later-life planning.

They said trans clients can face particular obstacles when changing legal names, as credit records and lender data may not align across previous and current identities. The announcement said Chowney’s own experience reconciling financial records across identities created additional complexity when she applied for a mortgage.

The Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research found in an economic survey that 27% of transgender respondents reported discrimination in banking or financial services, according to the companies.

Stacey Body, Aventur’s chief executive and co-founder, said the LGBT+ community has been underserved by financial services. She said the partnership with Chowney was intended to support more inclusive regulated advice in the UK.

This story draws on original reporting from Finextra Research.