The upgrades are part of Lloyds Banking Group’s £150m ($192m, €175m) investment in the platform and its underlying technology.

They include improvements to payment functionality, charging capability and new investment solutions. New client management and advice tools are also to be introduced.

Jackie Leiper, Embark Group chief executive, and managing director, pensions, share dealing & distribution at Scottish Widows, said: “The newly launched Scottish Widows platform will provide our intermediary partners with a slicker and more intuitive user experience. With further updates to come, this simplified offering makes it even easier for advisers to use our platform and help their customers achieve their investment goals.

“We’ve refocused the Embark brand to support our growing white-label business for institutional partners, which is the next natural step in our growth.”

Embark was acquired by Lloyds Banking Group in January 2022. The firm operates across eight UK locations and has more than £35.2bn in assets under administration on behalf of around 396,000 clients.

Ozlem Gunduz Robinson has been named as head of the international private bank at the group, according to her Linkedin profile.

Robinson was previously global head of wealth for capital markets, credit and advisory at HSBC Global Private Banking.

Brooks Macdonald

The wealth manager has appointed Louis Petherick as group chief risk officer with effect from 4 September, subject to regulatory approval.

He joins Brooks Macdonald from FNZ UK, where he is chief risk officer.

Quilter Cheviot

The DFM arm of Quilter has bolstered its business development teams across the UK.

Adam Davey has joined Quilter Cheviot’s Glasgow office from Royal London, where he was a business development manager.

Ruth Lynch joins the Leicester office from sister company Quilter Financial Planning, having been a relationship manager in the west of the UK.

Meanwhile, Emily Murphy joined the London office from Abrdn in July. Murphy was an associate director of business development and has worked closely supporting national advice firms, advice networks, banks and building societies.

Finally, John Long has joined from the IFA compliance and business support consultancy Threesixty services, where he was head of strategic accounts.

All four will report into David Butler, head of distribution at Quilter Cheviot.

Stonehage Fleming

The international family office has made a series of promotions across its Jersey and Isle of Man offices.

In the Jersey family office division, Bev Stewart has been promoted to Partner. She joined the group as a director in 2020 from Absa Bank Limited in South Africa.

Also, in the Jersey family office division Leigh Driscoll and Monika Osiak Faria have been promoted to associate director, and Larni Sobere to senior associate.

In the Jersey group corporate, legal and tax advisory division, Leanne Stuart has been promoted to associate director.

In the Isle of Man family office division Samantha Andrews, Keri Breadner and Tessa Burrows have been promoted to associate director.

Aon

The global professional services firm has named Maria Johannessen as UK head of investment.

Johannessen was previously investment client leader and investment leader for the London region, having joined Aon as a senior partner in June 2022.

She succeeds Tim Giles, who has left Aon after 25 years to seek new challenges and opportunities.

Rockhold Asset Management

The investment management business owned by Adviser Services Holdings (ASHL) has named James Millard as a non-executive director.

Millard was most recently chief investment officer of Hiscox Group

Prior to Hiscox, he was co-head of multi-manager solutions at Aberdeen Standard.

The research revealed that the UK’s most misunderstood investment term is ‘asset class’, with 77% confused about its meaning. More than a quarter (29%) don’t understand the term ‘inflation’, including 6% who have never heard of it.

Some 26% said it would be easier to learn an entirely new language or go on a first date (23%) than to start investing (21%), although more than half (51%) said that they would be open to learning the basics of investing if appropriate instruction and support was in place.

Nearly half of those without investments (48%) said they don’t want to risk losing money, while 38% of Brits – rising to 44% of women – confessed that they are clueless about financial terms. Common investment terms that bewilder Brits include shares (31%), stocks (37%), portfolio (37%) and dividend (42%).

Some of the other terms that Brits don’t understand include gilts (70%), risk appetite (62%) and equities (59%).

Only one-in-five (21%) of those surveyed claimed to have high financial literacy regarding investing.

Learning the language

Lloyds has partnered with lexicographer and TV personality Susie Dent to demystify the terminology, to help people better understand finance and to support them on their first steps towards investing.

Dent said: “It’s clear from this research that the language of investments is one many of us simply don’t understand. Happily, there are ways in which we can get far more comfortable with unfamiliar vocabulary. From using a dictionary to taking notes, it’s possible for anyone to get to grips with a new topic and its unfamiliar terminology.”

Jo Harris, relationship banking, director at Lloyds Bank, added: “We know there’s appetite amongst Brits to make their money work harder, but investing remains a confusing and intimidating topic for millions.”

The firm has also obtained an additional £5m debt facility provided by Shawbrook.

Lead investors Legal & General and Lloyds Banking Group will take minority stakes in the business. Both companies will also each look to enhance their commercial propositions with Moneyhub’s services, using its open data technology to support strategic goals.

The investment will help accelerate the ongoing development of Moneyhub’s solutions, including those around pensions and wealth, payments, distribution, affordability, and Data-as-a-Service. While Moneyhub is already present in several countries, the funding will help the firm grow internationally.

This is Moneyhub’s largest funding round to date and follows a fundraise in early 2021, led by Sir Peter Wood, founder of the technology-based insurance firms Direct Line Group, and Esure, and founder of investment vehicle SPWOne.

Legal & General’s investment is partially subject to regulatory approval.

Change in open data thinking

Samantha Seaton, chief executive of Moneyhub, said: “We are delighted to be working with Legal & General and Lloyds Banking Group and their recognition of the fabulous opportunity that Moneyhub presents to not only them but the clients we currently serve, as well as the wider market.

“Their new investment helps us signal a step change in the way the financial services industry thinks about open data and the possibilities it presents. Understanding and utilising customer transaction data for the benefit of the customer’s financial wellbeing not only helps businesses fulfil their consumer duty regulatory obligations, but also empowers them to create further opportunities. We’ve been at the forefront of the data revolution and are now the mature and trusted choice for businesses looking to make the most of its capabilities.”

Wian Pieterse, fintech managing director at Legal & General, added: “Beyond the numbers, Moneyhub’s purpose, to improve financial wellbeing, fits well with our own purpose of building a better society to improve the lives of customers whilst creating value for shareholders. We see significant potential for a meaningful long-term relationship with Sam and her team and we are very excited to work with Moneyhub as they continue to grow.”

Kirsty Rutter, fintech investment director at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “This investment in market leading open finance and open data, represents an important step for us at Lloyds Banking Group. This is the first fintech investment following the announcement of our new strategy earlier this year, which targets investment in technologies and partnerships that leverage data-driven insights to create value for customers.

“We are focused on identifying and exploring opportunities for investment into fintechs, and we are excited to work with Moneyhub to use open data and API technologies to help consumers improve their financial wellbeing, make our products more relevant to customers, and our channels simpler and more personalised to use.”

Cavendish provides hybrid solutions to consumers including guided and advised life insurance, critical illness and income protection services.

Lloyds said the M&A deal will help support Halifax, Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland’s client needs.

It added the firm will continue to provide mortgage-focused protection advice in its branches, as well as Scottish Widows-branded products via IFAs.

At completion, Cavendish will continue to operate as a separate company within Lloyds and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scottish Widows Group.

The protection business will also maintain its existing offices in Exeter and Fareham.

The acquisition is part of Lloyds’ plans to become a top-three protection provider by 2025.

Lack of cover

Antonio Lorenzo, chief executive of Scottish Widows and group director, insurance and wealth, at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “We have both the opportunity and the responsibility to improve our customers’ financial resilience. 60% of UK adults have no form of life cover and just 12% have cover if they fall critically ill.

“Our acquisition of Cavendish Online will enable us to help more of our customers at the times when we know they value advice.”

Rose St Louis, protection director at Lloyds Banking Group, added: “Protection can be a tricky conversation, often triggered by key events in peoples’ lives and many people value discussing their options with someone, to make sure they’ve got the right cover for their specific circumstances.

“The acquisition of Cavendish Online will enable us to provide advice and guidance to a broader range of customers, who are unlikely to access protection through an IFA, using the channel that best suits them and complements our existing mortgage focused in-branch service.”

The deal is expected to complete in Q4 2022.