Pension Pulse secures HGL Private Capital backing to tackle UK advice gap

What's the deal? Manchester-based Pension PulseDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has secured an undisclosed investment from HGL Private Capital to tackle the UK's widening "advice gap" — the millions of people without access to affordable, regulated pension advice.

Pension Pulse is an independent financial adviser founded by chief executive Aidan Carter and chief investment officer James Igoe. It is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

As part of the deal, HGL Private Capital founding directors Chris Hurley and Ged Gould have joined the Pension Pulse board as non-executive directors. West Midlands-based HGL concentrates on equity investments up to £10M, covering management buyouts, cash-out deals, and growth financing.

Why now? The UK's traditional financial advice model has long excluded people who don't meet minimum wealth thresholds, leaving a large underserved market. Carter said the company aims to "create a completely new category which combines technology, operational scale and human interaction to make high-quality advice genuinely accessible."

HGL itself relaunched in March 2025 after rebranding from Dealspan, and appears to be building a portfolio of scalable, technology-enabled businesses.

What could go wrong? Serving mass-market pension customers profitably is notoriously difficult. The advice gap exists in part because regulatory compliance costs make it uneconomical to advise people with smaller pots. Pension Pulse will need to prove its tech-driven model can deliver regulated advice at scale without cutting corners — all under the FCA's watchful eye.

The signal: Gould called the investment a reflection of "growing confidence in scalable, technology-enabled advice businesses capable of addressing one of the UK financial sector's biggest structural challenges." The deal fits a broader trend of private equity backing fintech solutions that automate or streamline traditionally high-touch financial services. If Pension Pulse can crack the economics of affordable pension advice, the addressable market is enormous.

Read more: Insider Media