Nutmeg chief Nick Hungerford is stepping down
One of the UK’s best known fintech entrepreneurs Nick Hungerford is stepping down as chief of the Nutmeg, the wealth management startup he co-founded.
The firm, which has landed millions of pounds in backing from the likes of Schroders, has named revenue chief Martin Stead his successor and Hungerford will become a non-executive director.
Here’s what he had to say about his exit:
“The time is right to hand over the role of chief to Martin to manage and further accelerate Nutmeg’s growth. My role at Nutmeg is geared toward building the brand, developing the vision and making sure Nutmeg has a voice among its peer group. I look forward to assuming my new role and I’m delighted that Martin has agreed to take on the role of CEO. Given my time working with Martin I am convinced that he has the skills necessary to lead Nutmeg, tackle the day to day challenges and deliver on our vision for customers. Most importantly Martin has passion and conviction in our mission and that makes this appointment an easy one. I look forward to working with him.
“I am passionate about discovering and building solutions that will help us to fix the financial issues that afflict society and spread inter-generational unfairness. Nutmeg 1.0 redefined the UK investment management industry and the company is now growing at an unprecedented rate. Under Martin’s leadership, Nutmeg 2.0 will transform financial advice and the relationship that Europeans have with their money.”
Hungerford, a former banker with Brewin Dolphin and Barclays Wealth, founded the fintech firm in 2011 with William Todd. Investors in the business also include Carphone Warehouse entrepreneur Charles Dunstone and leading venture capitalist Tim Draper.
Chairman Craig Anderson said the business has had a “record breaking year” and that the shift in management line up was “for our next stage of growth”. It also boasted user growth of 37 per cent since the start of the year.
Hungerford’s departure follows that of managing director Lee Cowles who left in mid-April according to documents filed with Companies House last week.
The business made pre-tax losses of £5.28m in 2014, the latest financial year available, up from £3.6m losses the year before. The startup has raised a around £25m from backers and around £23m of that in a single series B funding round in 2014.