NutmegJan 31 2020

Nutmeg hits £2bn assets and sets sights on ESG

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Nutmeg hits £2bn assets and sets sights on ESG
Nutmeg chief executive Neil Alexander

Robo-adviser Nutmeg now manages more than £2bn for almost 80,000 clients as the company prepares for growing consumer demand for environmental, social and governance investing.

In a statement today (January 31) the digital wealth manager announced the milestone as a result of a 41 per cent year-on-year growth of assets under management.

Since Nutmeg surpassed the £1bn mark in November 2017 its customer base has grown by 60 per cent. However, the company recently revealed it had spent almost £3 acquiring each new £1 of revenue in 2018.

Neil Alexander, chief executive at Nutmeg, said today'a announcement was a "significant milestone" for both the company and the wider robo-advice industry.

He said: "As many more people look at how technology can help them with their finances, our continued growth demonstrates the growing popularity of the Nutmeg business model.

"Helping our customers to achieve their financial goals is at the heart of our business, and we’re proud to be providing investment and financial advice services to large proportions of the population who have been under-served by the traditional incumbents for far too long."

In September Nutmeg launched an unregulated financial planning service available to customers at half the cost of its regulated advice model, in response to consumer demand for "a straightforward view" of their financial position. 

In November 2018 the robo-adviser launched ESG scoring across all of its portfolios and today said this area of investing was one it anticipated would become increasingly popular, stating it already had more than 10,000 socially responsible pots under its management. 

Mr Alexander said: "Seven years after launch, our tech-first alternative to traditional wealth managers and DIY platforms has transformed the investment landscape.

"We are proud of what we have achieved so far at Nutmeg, but there is much more to do. 

"We’re focused on providing our customers with new products, enhanced features and improved services, and further B2B expansion, in order to help many more millions of people achieve their big goals in life." 

The advice industry has been an especially difficult sector for robo offerings to infiltrate with the latest results season witnessing digital wealth managers remaining in the red. 

Nutmeg's own losses widened in 2018 to £18.5m on a turnover of £7.1m, compared with the £12.1m the business lost in 2017. 

rachel.mortimer@ft.com 

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