Nutmeg is a UK-based online investment management startup backed by the likes of Tim Draper that intends to pull off something of a bank job by disrupting the world of financial investing. And it has some heavyweights to help it. It launched last year after raising $5.3 million from Pentech, Tim Draper, Spotify board member Klaus Hommels and Armada Investment Group chairman Daniel Aegerter. Clearly the idea is to capitalise on consumer disillusionment with banks and existing investment models. Nick Hungerford, Nutmeg’s founder and CEO spoke to us about the launch and what Nutmeg is trying to achieve in making investing as transparent and democratic as possible.
With a minimum of £1,000 ($1,612) invested, Nutmeg advisors manage your portfolio and invest the money on your behalf, up to your own level of risk. In the UK this market is worth £500 billion, and while traditional investment managers pay 1.36 percent commission in fees, Nutmeg’s charges start at 1 percent and go as low as 0.3 percent.
It could certainly spice up competition amongst some of the financial world’s biggest players.