Novia rebrands to Wealthtime in bid to seem less ‘abstract’

The name change will not see the Novia and Wealthtime platforms merge, though Barry Neilson, Novia’s chief commercial officer, told FTAdviser the business expects some Wealthtime users to migrate over to the Novia platform as a result of the rebrand.

“There are no plans to bulk migrate all existing Wealthtime clients onto the Novia platform but we do expect some Wealthtime users to adopt the Novia technology over time,” he said.

Currently, Wealthtime has around 9,726 active clients, with the combined platforms serving some 67,000 clients overall.

Total assets under administration across both platforms sat at around £11.8bn at the end of March, with £9.3bn sitting on Novia and £2.5bn sitting on Wealthtime.

We have been preparing the ground to position the group for what we believe is a third era for platforms.Patrick Mill

The rebrand, which will come into effect in the second half of the year, marks the “final stage” of a strategic review which Novia started after the Wealthtime acquisition.

Copia Capital, the discretionary fund management part of the group which Novia unveiled back in 2013, will remain a separate brand.

Clients of Amber Financial Investments, another of Anacap’s acquisitions, have been migrated to GBST, Novia’s platform technology.

Asked why the business has decided to drop the name ‘Novia’, Neilson said it came down to a wish to move away from a more “abstract” name and instead towards a clearer brand which represents the 30-40 different “micro-audiences” - ie, types of advice firms - which the Novia team want to serve.

Earlier this month, Neilson set out Novia’s technology strategy. He said the platform was banking on a microservices strategy to ensure it does not have to employ more administrators in order to scale.

Following an overhaul of its management team, Novia is now focused on building layers of microservices on top of its core bookkeeping technology. 

It is liked by its users but has needed investment and an injection of energy to spread the word.Heather Hopkins

The platform has already added a Capital Gains Tax calculator, but over the next year Novia envisions housing an “ecosystem” of microservices.

Patrick Mill, Novia’s chief executive, said: “Since the acquisition of the Amber, Wealthtime and Novia platforms by AnaCap, our business has undergone a transformation, building on the strong foundations that were already in place across the group. 

“We have been preparing the ground to position the group for what we believe is a third era for platforms, differentiating on true digitisation and deeper connectivity. 

“The rebrand signals our intent to be in the vanguard by enabling firms to construct their technology stack as they see fit, not as platforms dictate.”

Mill reiterated that Novia is “fully committed” to the advised platform market.

Heather Hopkins, chief executive of platform consultancy NextWealth, suggested Novia "might just be a diamond in the rough" but needs to get its name out there.

"It is liked by its users but has needed investment and an injection of energy to spread the word," she explained. 

"DFMs consistently rate the tech as among the best but it's always flown a bit under the radar. There is work to be done to modernise some of the processes but the investment management functionality and reporting tools are strong.

"Since Patrick Mill took over as CEO, the platform has attracted some impressive talent. We think it's one of the platforms to watch." 

ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com