Moola raids US robo-advice firm for new CIO
UK digital financial advice specialists Moola has raided a US rival firm to appoint its chief investment officer, as it bids to take advantage of a period of accelerated growth in a marketplace it says is worth an estimated £2trn.
In a statement announcing the hire, Moola said that it has appointed Simon Moore, who as previously chief investment officer of BlackRock-owned FutureAdvisor, a digital wealth management firm serving households across the United States.
Moore said that he expected the UK to see an accelerated growth period for so called robo-advice and similar to that experienced in the US.
“The scale of Moola’s accomplishments and partnerships to date are impressive,” he said. “I am excited to contribute to Moola using technology to reach a broader set of customers with their investment service. When looking at the recent US experience, the next few years in Europe should see tremendous growth of online platforms such as Moola”
£2trn market
Working in partnership with IFAs, and regulated by the UK regulator the Financial Conduct Authority, Moola says that it offers easy-to-use investment and savings services targeting more than five million Britons, that it is believed have no or little access to financial advice. It believes that the market for this is estimated at £2trn.
Prior to his role at Moore worked at Putnam Investments, Microsoft, Anheuser-Busch and the Bank of England. He has also served as a strategic consultant to firms in the technology, retail and financial industries and is the author of “Strategic Project Portfolio Management: Enabling a Productive Organisation” and “Digital Wealth: An Automatic Way to Invest Successfully”.
Moola’s service can be accessed with as little as £200, in order for customers to test the service before investing larger lump sums and committing to monthly contributions. It operates in partnership with EValue for financial planning, client money is held by Winterflood, and research and products are from BlackRock. Moola is also backed by Run Capital, Odysseus Investments and a consortium of private investors, having completed an oversubscribed funding round in 2016.
In November 2016, Moola opened a Belfast Operations Centre to create 42 jobs, with assistance from Invest Northern Ireland.
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