Moneyfarm: Acquisitions and swelling client base help wealth manager’s assets surpass £4bn

Digital wealth manager Moneyfarm has reported a jump in assets for the first half of 2024, helped by acquisitions and a swelling client base.

The pan-European investment adviser said on Wednesday that its assets had surpassed £4bn in the six months to the end of June, growing 51 per cent compared to the same period in 2023.

Moneyfarm said its assets were boosted by acquisitions, including its purchase and integration of UK digital pension adviser and consolidator Profile Pensions – agreed at the end of 2022.

Giovanni Daprà, Moneyfarm’s founder and chief executive, said the asset growth “demonstrates that our experience of combining the simplicity of smart technology with the reassurance of human expertise is needed by clients”.

The London-based firm also grew organically, with Moneyfarm’s total clients increasing 23 per cent year on year. The company said it had roughly 130,000 active investors.

Daprà added that Moneyfarm’s results came amid “challenging market conditions”. A number of wealth managers have struggled with inflationary pressures and reduced demand for actively-managed products.

Moneyfarm said its investment advisory team saw a more than 70 per cent year on year rise in client interactions and more than 12,000 appointments requested.

The firm highlighted recent product launches, including rolling out its DIY investing service “Share Investing” in the UK and Italy. It allows clients to directly invest in more than 1,800 financial instruments, including stocks, exchange-traded funds and bonds.

In August, Moneyfarm introduced a pensions service to help clients locate old pension schemes, and check for any benefits or penalties before transferring them into one new personalised plan.

The Pensions Policy Institute has found that £26.6bn in lost pensions were recorded across the UK in 2022, up from £19.4bn in 2018.

Moneyfarm announced in July that it had become the first digital wealth manager to receive B Corp certification, with an overall score of 90.5.

The firm added that the ESG portfolios it launched in 2021 had seen “continued growth” and 24,000 customers opt for them as of the first half of this year.

Its latest accounts on Companies House show Moneyfarm’s pretax loss widened to £12.7m in 2022, from £10.8m in 2021. However, revenue increased to £14.5m from £9.8m.