The deal, announced by the company today, means Marlborough has taken a ‘significant’ minority stake in Clever, which is a pioneer in the creation of quantitative analysis-driven fund selection and asset allocation services for financial planners in the UK.

The two companies have been working in partnership since August 2022 when they launched the Clever Marlborough Managed Portfolio Service (MPS).

The investment will enable Clever to accelerate its growth plans and further enhance its service by developing new technological capabilities to meet what it calls ‘the ever-evolving needs of financial planners’.

Colum Wilde, Founder and CEO of Clever, said: “We’re extremely excited about this new phase in our relationship with Marlborough and in Clever’s journey as a provider of top-tier services and systems to UK financial planners.

“Marlborough’s investment is a ringing endorsement of what we do and who we are and further strengthens our relationship with one of the UK’s leading independently owned investment management specialists.”

‘Strong growth mindset’

Richard Goodall, pictured left,  CEO of Marlborough, said: “We’ve been working closely with Clever over the past two years and we’ve been highly impressed by the quality of their team, their technology and the culture of the business. Like us, they have a strong growth mindset based on delivering first-class outcomes for clients, they have a ‘can-do’ philosophy and they’re a great team to work with.

“So, we’re certainly not seeking to change anything at Clever. We’ve invested to share in the success of a high-calibre business with what we believe is a very bright future and we’re looking forward to continuing to work in partnership with them for the long term.

“It’s this partnership approach to working with other businesses that’s one of Marlborough’s great strengths and it’s one of the key reasons that more and more firms are choosing to work with us.”

Investments

This is the latest in a series of investments by Marlborough. The group invested in national IFA business Truly Independent last year to support the firm’s ambitious growth strategy. This year Marlborough has also invested in South Africa-headquartered IFA business Carrick Wealth and Hong Kong-based financial planning and wealth management firm BMP Wealth.

Offering a range of six core and five sustainability-focused portfolios, the Clever Marlborough MPS combines Marlborough’s investment expertise with Clever’s proprietary fund selection and monitoring system, the Clever Engine.

Using powerful algorithms, the Clever Engine analyses millions of pieces of fund performance data to score and rank more than 4,000 UK-domiciled funds every month and make switching recommendations.

Multi-asset

Marlborough’s multi-asset investment team, who have more than 125 years’ combined experience, provide due diligence and oversight before the recommended trades are signed off and executed.

Clever’s adviser clients have been able to use the Clever Marlborough MPS since August 2022 and it was made available to all UK financial advisers in September 2023 in light of “extremely positive” feedback. The Clever Marlborough MPS is growing rapidly and has reached more than £700m of assets under management in less than two years.

Marlborough is one of the leading independently owned investment management specialist and a provider of expert fund governance services to enable financial advisers and investment managers to launch their own funds or unitise existing portfolios. The group also includes an investment platform business, the Marlborough Select Platform, which combines digital-first technology with a commitment to exceptional service. The group manages assets in excess of £19 billion, it said.

The Clever Marlborough MPS aims to address the challenges and opportunities around market shifts and offers hybrid and sustainability-focused portfolios.

It uses more than 122 million data points to sift, score and rank over 4,000 funds every month.

The MPS uses Clever’s proprietary fund selection and monitoring system, the CleverEngine, to analyse fund performance data and make switching recommendations.

Clever’s customers have had access to the service since August last year and has now been made available to UK advisers due to ‘extremely positive’ feedback.

Clever founder and chief executive Colum Wilde, said: “The power of advanced quantitative technology and data science is becoming more important to advisers and their clients. One of the key reasons for this is the increasingly rapid velocity of the market.

“We strongly believe the Clever Marlborough MPS is a game-changer in this regard. It supports our vision in providing cutting-edge solutions that lead to consistent performance and excellent outcomes for investors.”

Marlborough chief investment officer Sheldon MacDonald, added: “With our team’s expertise and the power of Clever’s technology, we’re confident this service will be a great success.

“There’s no doubt that the investment landscape is changing at pace.

“We’re confident that the Clever Marlborough MPS reflects its evolution, which is why we’re very excited about this launch.”

The investment gives the group a minority shareholding in Truly Independent, which has a team of 75 financial advisers and £1.5b ($1.9b, €1.7b) of assets under administration.

The independent status of the IFA firm will not be affected by this investment.

Richard Goodall, chief executive of the Marlborough Group, said: “The team at Truly Independent have greatly impressed us over the years we’ve been working with them. Like us, they have a strong entrepreneurial spirit, a commitment to delivering first-class outcomes for clients and that all-important ‘can-do’ attitude.

“Through this investment we’re also demonstrating our confidence in the strong long-term growth prospects of the IFA sector more generally. We’re working in partnership with more and more adviser firms and we’re firmly of the view that this is a sector with an exciting future.”

Andrew Goodwin, founder and chief executive of Truly Independent, added: “This investment will provide valuable growth capital as we continue to bring on board new advisers who are keen to join one of the UK’s fastest-growing and most ambitious independent financial advice firms.

“Equally important though is that we will benefit from the huge breadth and depth of experience within the Marlborough Group. They have a well-deserved reputation for investment excellence, which is one of the reasons we use their MPS service, but they have a wealth of expertise in other areas too that will be valuable in supporting our continuing growth.”

Ben Bulmer has been named as chief financial officer at the global financial services group.

Bulmer is currently chief financial officer of insurance and asset management at the company.

He succeeds James Turner, who has resigned as chief financial officer in light of an investigation into a code of conduct issue relating to a recent recruitment situation.

Prudential said: “The group sets itself high standards and Mr Turner fell short on this occasion. Mr Turner will remain available to the group for a period of four months to support a smooth transition.

“There are no implications for the financial performance, reporting or operations of the business.”

FIM Capital

The Isle of Man-based wealth firm has promoted David Bushe as chief executive.

He previously was investment director at the company.

Prior to FIM Capital, he was a director at Ravenscroft Group.

Novia Financial

The platform business has brought together its operations and technology teams under the direction of Eden Scrivenger, who takes on the expanded role of chief technology and operations officer.

Scrivenger, who joined the platform in August last year, will be supported by newly appointed operations director, Julie Gawthorpe, who joins from pensions administration provider Diligenta.

FWD Group

Sid Sankaran has been named as managing director and group chief financial officer, effective 1 September 2023, subject to regulatory approval.

Sankaran will join the company as senior adviser from 1 June 2023.

He will succeed Jon Nielsen, who will be pursuing a career opportunity in North America.

GBST

The global wealthtech company has hired Simon Clare as head of product innovation.

Before joining GBST, Clare was chief product officer at FE Fundinfo.

Isio

The pension consultancy firm has promoted Emily McGuire to lead its investment advisory team.

McGuire, previously at Aon, joined Isio in May 2022.

She takes on the role from Nick Evans, who is turning his focus to client development, exploring new opportunities to diversify and grow the business.

JM Finn

Rebecca Dawkins has joined the wealth manager as an associate wealth planner.

Before joining JM Finn, she was at London Wall Partners and prior to that at Saunderson House.

Marlborough

The fund manager has appointed Kevin Addison as head of UK wholesale and institutional funds distribution.

Addison joins from Downing Fund Managers, where he was head of sales and distribution. Before that, he was head of funds distribution at Brooks Macdonald.

Old Mill

The wealth manager has promoted chartered accountant Jamie Rudge and compliance director Duncan Parkes as technical partners.

The promotions bring the total number of partners to 25.

Group chief financial officer Jon Nielsen will be leaving the company to pursue a career opportunity in North America.

Nielsen has committed to remain with FWD Group until 31 August 2023, including through its half-year results, to ensure a smooth transition.

FWD Group said it is “well-advanced in its international search process” for the role.

Melbourne Capital Group

The advice firm has promoted Kazi Nishad to head of business development, according to a Linkedin post.

Nishad was previously a private wealth specialist at the firm. Prior to that, Nishad was a business development manager at DeVere Group based in Malaysia.

BNP Paribas Wealth Management

The firm has appointed Marc Kermaidic as chief operating officer for wealth management in Asia.

Kermaidic is currently head of investment services development for BNP Paribas Wealth Management’s global Asian and international markets.

He succeeds Long Doan, who will take up a new role within BNP Paribas, which will be announced in due course.

Investec Wealth & Investment

Marc Wright has joined the firm as head of entrepreneurs within its private office.

Wright was with Barclays, where he was an ultra-high net worth senior private banker, leading the Midlands region for Barclays Private Bank.

The Marlborough Group

Chris Hughes has taken on the role of business development manager at the investment firm, according to his Linkedin profile.

Hughes was previously at Brooks Macdonald, where he was investment solutions manager.

Abrdn

The asset manager has grown its MPS team with the appointment of Sam Buckingham as investment manager.

He joins from Kingswood Group, where he was an investment analyst.

Liontrust

The asset management company has hired Anthony Chemla as a fund manager for its multi-asset team.

Chemla was previously at Atomos, where he was lead portfolio manager for its DFM portfolios and co-portfolio manager of its managed portfolio service.

Evelyn Partners

The wealth management and professional services firm has hired financial planner Nick Hathaway to its Birmingham office.

Hathaway joins from Jerroms Financial Planning, where he has worked since 2018.

Continuum

The IFA company has added financial adviser Stuart Anthony to the London arm of its nationwide team.

He joins Continuum from Alexander House Financial Services, an appointed representative of Quilter, where he was an independent financial planner.

Philip J Milton & Company

The IFA firm has named Peter Elston as director.

Elston was previously chief investment officer at Seneca Investment Managers.

Also, financial planner Felix Milton, has become a director of the company.

Adam Cooke has also been named as non-executive chairman. Cooke previously worked for many years at Invesco.