Tributes have poured in for Nutmeg co-founder Nick Hungerford whose death was announced yesterday (11 July).
Common themes across the tributes hailed Hungerford’s leadership qualities, originality of vision and influence on the advice sector.
We have compiled number of tributes below.
Jeremy Fawcett, head of Platforum
Nick Hungerford was a mould breaker who brought Silicon Valley to the UK wealth management market at a time when it was still split between those who thought the internet would rip through their sector and others convinced that the personal touch was the only currency.
In 2012 as Nutmeg was preparing to launch, the robo adviser concept was reasonably well established in the US. Companies like MarketRiders, Betterment and Wealthfront were getting traction and Nick wasn’t the only entrepreneur to identify a similar opportunity to ‘democratise investing’ in the UK.
Nutmeg’s rise was much like Facebook’s, where Mark Zuckerberg’s social network would become the dominant success story, regardless of others working on similar platforms. Nick knew what he was up against from his days working at Brewin Dolphin and Barclays Wealth. A Stanford MBA gave him a mindset able to look beyond immediate challenges of profitability and regulation, along with new vocabulary like ‘the Harvard endowment’ to get across the concept of professional long-term investment management.
He persuaded big names to back him in the early days including Carphone Warehouse founder Sir Charles Dunstone, the economist Sir John Kay and Schroders. Assets under administration may have been dwarfed by D2C market leader, Hargreaves Lansdown, but Nutmeg was undoubtedly the leading digital wealth manager at the time that Nick stepped down as chief executive and later as a director.
Customer acquisition has always been challenging for D2C services and UK robo advisers now mostly reside within the retail banking channel, benefiting from their substantial customer bases. So it was to be with Nutmeg which was acquired by J.P. Morgan in 2021 to complement UK digital bank, Chase, that it subsequently launched. At the time Nutmeg commanded 60% of the UK robo adviser market.
Today only 36% of UK adults own any investments, but Nick Hungerford has seeded the network effect into wealth management and his contribution will continue to be influential far into the future.
Holly Mackay, chief executive at Boring Money
I first met Nick in 2012 when he bounded into my office at Platforum and talked with endless energy and enthusiasm about a new business he was launching to shake up the status quo. He was on a mission to democratize what was still a complex service usually reserved for the wealthy.
To take a business from the seed of an idea to something which you sell to one of the world’s largest financial brands is an astonishing achievement. It takes guts and vision and determination and grit. RIP Nick, you were taken too young.
Jeannette Cook, head of Touch at AJ Bell
I was sorry to hear the sad news of the passing of Nick Hungerford. I met Nick many moons ago when Nutmeg was just starting out and we too were exploring ‘simplified advice’ options. Nick was a very impressive chap, and we shared many a debate over regulations and in particular simplified advice. Financial Services has lost another great challenger and champion – RIP Nick and condolences to your family.
Pershing EMEA team
The team at Pershing EMEA was very saddened to hear the passing of Nick Hungerford. Nick’s contribution to innovation in financial services with his focus on consumer choices cannot be overstated. We would like to send our deepest sympathy to his family and friends, especially his wife and daughter at this very sad time. May he rest in peace.
