Digital wealth management company MoneyFarm has appointed its first Chief Product Officer, Michele Battelli, to spearhead new product development and roll-out as it launches into the UK savings and investment market.
Michele Battelli joins MoneyFarm from Google in California, where he was a Senior Technical Program Manager. He was part of the original launch team of Google OnHub, its new smart wi-fi router. He was also co-founder of the Google Adventure team which took StreetView to some of the world’s highest peaks including Everest.
MoneyFarm has ambitious plans to build on its existing customer base of 50,000 registered users, using technology to deliver high quality advisory and discretionary services at a fraction of the cost of a traditional wealth management firm.
Its model combines a simple user interface (online or via an app) and powerful algorithms with a high quality advisory service to provide a personal and customised solution designed to deliver investors the investment performance that they are looking for to help their wealth grow.
Among Michele’s first priorities will be supporting the roll-out of MoneyFarm’s new ISA offering in the new year. This will be designed to provide a high quality investment returns, underpinned by structurally low cost investments such as Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Michele’s appointment follows the recent announcement that the former CTO of Last.fm, David Jeffrey, is joining MoneyFarm as its new Chief Technology Officer. Together they will work on developing its ‘mobile first’ approach to allow investors to manage every aspect of their wealth portfolio from a mobile device.
Paolo Galvani, Chairman and co-founder of MoneyFarm, comments: “Product design and innovation is at the heart of what we do so we are delighted that Michele, who shares our vision on product innovation, is joining us.”
“Michele’s experience in implementing and overseeing major ground-breaking programmes at one of the world’s leading tech companies, means he has exactly the right kind of expertise and passion to help us deliver the kinds of innovative, high quality products that investors are searching for.”
Michele Battelli says, “MoneyFarm has developed a highly innovative and exciting model, which has enabled it within a short space of time to become a significant player in the European fintech space. I look forward to help build on its success and deliver innovative technologies that will allow MoneyFarm to address people's needs for high quality products.”
“Investors are often frustrated by what they see as lack of choice and often poor performance in many investment products currently available. Our goal at MoneyFarm is to lead greater product innovation in the marketplace to give investors greater flexibility, greater transparency and greater control in their portfolios.”
“By combining an innovative digital platform with extensive and pro-active investment expertise, MoneyFarm is enabling people to achieve impressive performance without the high costs normally associated with wealth management services.”