Blue-blooded wealth management house Quilter has acquired fintech firm NuWealth to boost its advisory service for novice investors.
Formerly known as Wombat Invest, NuWealth is a digital investment app that offers a range of ISAs, general investment and savings account and learning resources.
Quilter aims to evolve NuWealth to work with advisers to help them support clients at the start of their investing journey. It will initally target clients with modest investment pots who need additional help and guidance, with the option to work with a financial adviser further down the road.
With emerging proposals from the HMT/FCA Advice Guidance Boundary Review encouraging providers to offer wider support capabilities to help close the advice gap, the acquisition will accelerate Quilter’s capabilities to deliver digital guidance.
It will also support Quilter’s delivery of workplace advice provided by Quilter Financial Advisers, its national advice business, serving affinity advice partners.
Steven Levin, CEO of Quilter, says: "This acquisition aligns with our strategy to enhance our digital capabilities, ensuring we can support advisers to meet the diverse needs of their clients.
“As client expectations for digital engagement evolve, we recognise that robust technology solutions are key to reducing the advice gap and enabling advisers to reach and support a wider set of clients. Advisers have been asking us to support them with a proposition for their clients who are just starting out their investment journeys or not yet ready for a full advice offering. We will evolve NuWealth to help advisers serve these clients, promote the benefit of financial advice and prepare for future regulatory changes in advice and guidance.”
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.