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PensionBee Group plc
Incorporated in England and
Wales
Registration Number:
13172844
LEI: 2138008663P5FHPGZV74
ISIN: GB00BNDRLN84
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22
January 2025
PensionBee Group
plc
Q4 2024 Results
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Group achieves Adjusted
EBITDA breakeven, supported by UK profitability
and continued execution of
successful strategy
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PensionBee Group plc ('PensionBee'
or the 'Company', together with its subsidiaries the 'Group'), a
leading online pension provider, today announces a trading update
(unaudited) for the quarter ended 31 December 2024.
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Summary
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● Assets under
Administration increased by 34% year on year to £5.8bn (December
2023: £4.4bn), underpinned by strong Net Flows from new and
existing customers, and supportive markets.
● Revenue for the
quarter increased by 38% year on year to £9m (Q4 2023: £7m). Annual
Run Rate Revenue increased by 36% to £38m (December 2023:
£28m).1
● Adjusted
EBITDA2 breakeven for the Group was achieved for the
full year of 2024 (FY 2024: £0m), with an Adjusted EBITDA Margin of
1%. UK Adjusted EBITDA3 was positive for the full year
of 2024, recording an Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 7%, and marking a
significant milestone.
● Enhanced
marketing efficiency, driven by our data-led strategy, resulted in
a 9% increase in Net Flows per £1 of Marketing Spend. Every £1 of
marketing spend generated £96 of net inflows in 2024 (2023:
£88).4
● Customer
Retention Rate5 and AUA Retention Rate6 were
both >95%, supported by continued strong customer satisfaction
(4.7★ Excellent Trustpilot score7) and ongoing product
innovation.
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Romi Savova, CEO of PensionBee, commented:
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"At the end of 2024, PensionBee celebrated ten years since
inception and the launch of our US business, an important step in
creating a global leader in the consumer retirement market. We
continued to execute on our growth strategy, reaching £5.8 billion
in Assets under Administration on behalf of 265,000 Invested
Customers. We also delivered on our long-standing ambition of
achieving Adjusted EBITDA profitability in the UK and delivered
Adjusted EBITDA breakeven for the Group as well as making a
significant investment in our US business.
In
the UK, we optimised our marketing expenditure while growing our
brand awareness, introduced our new sustainable investing option,
the Climate Plan, and maintained an efficient operational approach
to exceptional customer service. We continued to prioritise
automation as the foundation for efficient customer and asset
growth.
In
the US, we established our diversified multi-medium marketing
strategy, activating key channels such as search, social media,
mobile app campaigns, email nurturing and public relations. We
launched our native mobile app in December, enabling customers to
access PensionBee through both app stores. Our £20 million capital
raise in October 2024 will enable us to accelerate the growth of
our US business in the coming years."
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United Kingdom Operational Highlights
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Over the past quarter PensionBee has
continued to advance its strategic goals, growing its customer base
and Assets under Administration through efficient customer
acquisition and its decade long investment in brand
awareness.
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Efficient Investment in
Customer Acquisition and Growing Brand Awareness:
PensionBee's UK business has
continued to grow and invest in its brand and acquire customers
efficiently. We invested £1m in diversified marketing activities
across the quarter, optimising between channels to maximise our
return on investment. We invested £9m in UK marketing across 2024,
bringing the cumulative UK marketing investment since inception to
£64m. Over 2024, our acquisition strategy has been concentrated on
reaching customers with larger account balances, resulting in
growth of 16% in the average UK account balance to c.£22,000 (Q4
2023: c.£19,000). This strategy has also resulted in an increase in
Net flows per £ of Marketing Spend to £96 (FY 2023: £88). Cost per
Invested Customer was stable (Q4 2024: £242 vs. Q4 2023: £241),
highlighting the strength of the Company's marketing capability and
efficiency of spend. Prompted Brand Awareness ended the quarter at
57%, whilst Unprompted Brand Awareness, reported now for the first
time, was 15% demonstrating that PensionBee continues to solidify
its presence in the UK as a trusted household
name.8
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Leadership in Product
Innovation:
Throughout the year and the fourth
quarter of 2024, PensionBee has remained committed to innovation,
continuing to release and invest in valuable and engaging tools to
meet the evolving needs of its UK customers. These tools have
included performance analytics and retirement planning tools,
designed to empower customers to make more informed decisions and
plan more effectively for their future.
In the fourth quarter of 2024 the
Company continued to listen closely to its customers, offering
retirement solutions tailored to their needs. In December 2024,
PensionBee introduced a new sustainable investing option, the
Climate Plan, to existing customers. The Climate Plan was launched
to new customers in January 2025. The Climate Plan excludes fossil
fuel producers and also aims for total carbon emissions produced by
investee companies to be reduced by at least 10% each
year.
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Focus on Excellent Customer
Service:
Across the quarter, PensionBee has
continued to deliver its industry leading customer service, as
evidenced through the achievement of a 4.7★ Excellent Trustpilot
rating from approximately 11,500 Trustpilot reviews (December 2023:
4.6★) and the maintenance of rapid customer response
times.9
Delivering exceptional levels of
customer satisfaction is central to PensionBee's ambition of
retaining and serving its customers throughout their lifetimes,
seeing them through retirement. As such, PensionBee maintained a
Customer Retention Rate >95% across 2024 (Q4 2023:
>95%).5
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Investment in and Development
of Leading Technology Platform:
During 2024, PensionBee continued to
strengthen and invest in the scalability of its technology
platform, which continues to be a driving force for PensionBee's
competitive advantage. Ongoing investment in internal automation
has resulted in further efficiency gains, reflected in a 20%
productivity improvement year on year (Q4 2024: 1,333 Invested
Customers / Staff Member vs. Q4 2023: 1,112 Invested Customers /
Staff Member).10
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United States Operational Highlights
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In 2024, PensionBee entered the US
market, the world's largest Defined Contribution pension market, in
collaboration with our longstanding partner and one of the world's
largest money managers, State Street, who will provide meaningful
marketing support to PensionBee. PensionBee will pursue this
substantial growth opportunity to reach millions of underserved
Americans across the US, capitalising on its decade long investment
in its scalable technology platform, leadership in product
innovation and industry leading focus on excellent customer service
to respond to the strong consumer demand for a simple and effective
retirement solution.
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Major Milestones Achieved in
the US
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In 2024, PensionBee US successfully
finalised its commercial agreement with State Street, registered as
an investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
and launched a fully operational platform.
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Since its SEC registration in
July 2024, PensionBee US has been advancing at a rapid pace,
leveraging its scalable technology platform. This robust
technological foundation has enabled PensionBee US to hit key
milestones and progress at a faster rate than initially achieved in
the UK, generating Revenue by December 2024.
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Over Q4 PensionBee continued to
build the foundations of its US business, rolling out further
components of its multichannel, diversified marketing strategy and
onboarding its first customers through early testing. The year
concluded with the launch of the native mobile app on both the
Google Play and Apple App Stores in December.
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Over the coming weeks and months,
PensionBee intends to launch its ROTH IRA and to continue building
custom rollover journeys for the largest providers. PensionBee will
also continue to build out its Safe Harbor IRA proposition, working
with its partners at State Street, relevant third parties and
potential clients.
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PensionBee US is Progressing
Rapidly11
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Group Financial Update
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PensionBee has continued to deliver
consistent and predictable Revenue growth, driven by the
compounding nature of its Assets under Administration ('AUA'),
ongoing Net Flow generation across cohorts and a stable Revenue
Margin over Q4 2024 supported by >95% Customer and AUA Retention
Rates reflecting the compounding nature of the asset base.
Compounding growth has translated into predictable Revenue, with
Revenue for the Group in 2024 of £33m (December 2023: £24m) and
Annual Run Rate Revenue growth of 36% year on year to £38m (Q4
2023: £28m). PensionBee ended 2024 with a strong cash balance of
£35m.
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Predictable and Recurring Revenue Base
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Note on Charts: Shaded bars on
charts represent AUA. From bottom to top: Cohort 2016-2019 AUA,
Cohort 2020, Cohort 2021 AUA, Cohort 2022 AUA, Cohort 2023 AUA,
Cohort 2024 AUA, and Market Growth and Other AUA (darkest
orange).
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PensionBee's scalable business has
continued to drive operating leverage and profitability. The UK
Cost Base12 for FY 2024 has remained stable at £(32)m
(FY 2023: £(32)m), achieved through a combination of flat Money
Manager Costs relative to Revenue, stable Technology Platform Costs
and efficient marketing spend.
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Business Scalability to Drive Margin
Improvements
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A combination of strong predictable
Revenue growth, business scalability and strict cost discipline has
continued to drive high growth and to generate a third consecutive
quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA for the Group at £2m for Q4
2024 (Q4 2023: £1m) as well as Adjusted EBITDA Breakeven for the
Group of £0.4m for FY 2024. These significant Group milestones have
been supported by the achievement of UK Adjusted EBITDA
profitability for FY 2024 of £2m (FY 2023: £(8)m), in line with
guidance.
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PensionBee UK Scalability and Profitability
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Note on Charts: Charts relate to
PensionBee UK only.
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The Cost Base13 for FY
2024 for the Group amounted to £(33)m, an increase of 2% (FY 2023:
£(32)m). US marketing expenses of £1m have been fully reimbursed by
State Street.
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Group Financial Guidance Framework
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The Company is pleased to confirm
that the guidance relating to 2024 has been achieved within the
guidance framework previously presented at its recent Capital
Markets Day:
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Revenue
Objectives:
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● PensionBee
expects Revenue for the Group to exceed £30m for the full year
2024.
○ Delivered: PensionBee achieved Revenue
of £33m for the Group.
● Ambition to
reach >£100m of Group Revenue in the short to medium term (by
year 5), with a longer term (5 to 10 years) ambition to exceed
£250m.
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Profitability
Objectives:
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● PensionBee
expects to reach Group Adjusted EBITDA breakeven for the full year
2024.
○ Delivered: PensionBee achieved Adjusted
EBITDA breakeven for the Group of £0m.
● Ambition to
reach Adjusted EBITDA Margin for the Group of approximately 20% in
the short to medium term (by year 5), with a longer term (5 to 10
years) ambition to reach c.50%.
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Group Financial Summary
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As at
Period End
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Group Metrics (unless otherwise stated)
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Dec-2023
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Dec-2024
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YoY change
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AUA
(£m)14
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4,350
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5,841
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34%
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AUA Retention Rate (% of
AUA)6
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>95%
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>95%
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Stable
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Invested Customers
(thousands)15
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229
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265
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16%
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Customer Retention Rate (% of
IC)5
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>95%
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>95%
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Stable
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UK Cost per Invested Customer
(£)16
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241
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242
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Stable
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Revenue Margin (% of
AUA)17
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0.64%
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0.64%
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Stable
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Annual Run Rate Revenue
(£m)1
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28
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38
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36%
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Over the
12-month Period Ending
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Group Metrics (unless otherwise stated)
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Dec-2023
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Dec-2024
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YoY change
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Opening AUA (£m)14
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3,025
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4,350
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44%
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Gross Inflows
(£m)
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1,174
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1,334
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14%
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Gross Outflows
(£m)
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(318)
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(459)
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45%
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Net
Flows (£m)18
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857
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876
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2%
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Market Growth and Other
(£m)
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468
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615
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N/M
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Closing AUA (£m)14
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4,350
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5,841
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34%
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Over the
3-month Period Ending
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Group Metrics (unless otherwise stated)
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Dec-2023
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Dec-2024
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YoY change
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Revenue (£m)19
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7
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9
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38%
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Adjusted EBITDA (£m)2
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1
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2
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N/M
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Adjusted EBITDA Margin (% of
Revenue)20
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11%
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18%
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6ppt
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Over the
12-month Period Ending
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Group Metrics (unless otherwise stated)
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Dec-2023
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Dec-2024
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YoY change
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Revenue (£m)19
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24
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33
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39%
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Cost Base
(£m)13
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(32)
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(33)
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2%
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Adjusted EBITDA (£m)2
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(8)
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0
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N/M
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Adjusted EBITDA Margin (% of
Revenue)20
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(35)%
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1%
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36ppt*
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Over the
12-month Period Ending
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Group Metrics (unless otherwise stated)
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Dec-2023
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Dec-2024
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YoY change
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UK
Adjusted EBITDA (£m)3
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(8)
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2
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N/M
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UK Adjusted EBITDA Margin (% of
Revenue)21
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(35)%
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7%
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41ppt*
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