Nutmeg chief executive Martin Stead is to exit the robo-advice business after four years and leave the UK for France.
Stead (pictured), who has French citizenship, will be replaced by chief financial and operating officer Neil Alexander.
His exit comes mere months after chief investment officer Shaun Port exited the business to join JP Morgan.
In a statement announcing his exit, Stead said: “Nutmeg’s mission is as important today is it was when I joined in 2015. Being entrusted with the stewardship of Nutmeg and leading a world-class team of passionate Nutmeggers every day, has been the greatest privilege and responsibility of my life.
“I’ll be keeping track of my investments through the Nutmeg app, but I leave confident that Nutmeg will continue successfully on its path to achieving profitable scale as Neil Alexander takes on the reins.”
Nutmeg assets increased six-fold under Martin Stead
Since Stead joined the business in 2015, assets under administration have increased from £300m to nearly £2bn and revenue has quadrupled. He has helped secure £90m of capital investment, a press release said. In January, Goldman Sachs became a shareholder in the robo-adviser as part of a £45m series E fundraising round.
He is a champion of the LGBT community and had been an LGBT Great role model. Earlier this year, he told Portfolio Adviser that the financial services sector can feel like “a bit of a gentleman’s club” and that this was particularly so in the UK.
He will leave in early 2020.
B2B focus could increase under Neil Alexander
Alexander joined Nutmeg in May 2017 from Secretsales.com, where he helped them achieve their exit with a sale to Wowcher.
Altus director of wealth Simon Bussy described him as a natural choice to succeed Stead because he knows the business well. Bussy expected to see an increased focus on B2B and strategic partnerships, both in the UK and overseas, using the D2C proposition as a test bed and shop window.
The press release said Alexander has a range of finance, risk and management experience in online, international, regulated and growth stage businesses, including both large corporates and start-ups.
He said: “Seven years into the Nutmeg journey, I am honoured to be taking on the role of CEO to lead the company through its next stage of growth.”
