JP Morgan set to launch a digital bank in the UK later in 2021
JP Morgan, the world’s largest investment bank, is set to acquire Nutmeg, the robo-adviser, for an undisclosed figure.
The US bank confirmed on Thursday that it will takeover Nutmeg subject regulatory approval.
JP Morgan is set to launch a digital bank in the UK later in 2021 and said that the Nutmeg model will ‘complement’ this move.
Sanoke Viswanathan, chief executive, JPMorgan Chase said: “We are building Chase in the UK from scratch using the very latest technology and putting the customer’s experience at the heart of our offering, principles that Nutmeg shares with us. We look forward to positioning their award winning products alongside our own, and continuing to support their innovative work in retail wealth management.”
Towards the end of 2020 Nutmeg partnered with J.P. Morgan to launch a range of five risk-rated portfolios.
The digital ‘Smart Alpha’ portfolio combined JP Morgan Asset Management’s (JPMAM) expertise, with Nutmeg’s popular fintech interface – to “bring active security selection to the Nutmeg investment range”.
Neil Alexander, chief executive of Nutmeg said: “Nutmeg’s customers can expect the same level of transparency, convenience and service that helped make us a leading digital wealth manager in the UK.
Nutmeg holds £3.5bn in assets, although it has not yet made a profit. Losses at Nutmeg widened to more than £21m last year as the robo-adviser struggled to break even for the eighth year in a row. That figure was a bigger loss than the £18.4m reported for 2018.
The fintech company did however see its revenue jump by 66%, while it increased its customer base by 53% to more than 130,000.
The JP Morgan share price is trading sideways on Thursday at $156.27.