CompaniesMay 3 2016

New Nutmeg CEO to ‘transform’ financial advice

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New Nutmeg CEO to ‘transform’ financial advice

The appointment of a new chief executive at Nutmeg will allow the company to “transform financial advice”, the founder of the online investment service said.

Nick Hungerford, who started the business in 2011, moves to become a non-executive director and will be replaced as chief executive by Martin Stead.

“The time is right to hand over the role of chief executive to Martin to manage and further accelerate Nutmeg’s growth,” Mr Hungerford stated.

“Nutmeg 1.0 redefined the UK investment management industry and the company is now growing at an unprecedented rate. Under Martin’s leadership, Nutmeg 2.0 will transform financial advice and the relationship that Europeans have with their money.”

When asked whether this means Nutmeg is looking to expand overseas, a spokesman said there were no immediate plans to do so, but this is a long-term goal.

Nutmeg was last month given permission by the Financial Conduct Authority to carry out regulated financial advice.

But while Mr Hungerford has said the company will offer the “best advice that’s ever been seen”, he has not said when this service will be launched.

Mr Stead commented the Nutmeg business model is proven, with its “unparalleled technology and operating model” being built for scaling up, while the brand is now “perfectly positioned” to focus on growth.

“Our mission is to democratise wealth management, and to create generations of empowered investors,” he stated. “This is a noble and motivating goal – for me and for the whole Nutmeg team.”

Mr Stead joined Nutmeg as chief revenue officer in 2015 and previously worked at EDF Energy, where he sat on an B2C executive team which oversaw the £3bn revenue retail business.

Nutmeg’s current direct-to-consumer service allows people to open an Isa with £500 plus a £100 a month contributions for portfolios of less than £5,000. Savers pay an annual management fee of between 0.3 per cent and 0.95 per cent including VAT, depending on the size of their investment.

Adviser View

Matthew Walne, director of Leicestershire-based Santorini Financial Planning, said: “It will be interesting to see how it will be the best financial advice with no face-to-face delivery.

“I think they might be slightly out of touch with what is happening in the industry.”