PIWA is joining the Sandringham Financial Partners network, the independent advice arm of M&G. Sandringham has more than 190 financial advisers, advising on assets of more than £3bn ($3.7bn, €3.4bn) for over 15,000 clients.

Messenger, who will be chief executive of the business, is also seeking another 16 advisers to join PIWA, who will all be stakeholders.

He said: “We have seen a significant amount of consolidation in the advice sector, with shareholders reaping the rewards from the value created by the advisers. I want to do things differently and believe advisers should share in the value created.

“I have seldom met an adviser who is not enthusiastic about their clients, but it can be challenging to fully support them and deliver the ‘wow’ factor to client service.

“We will enable our advisers to deliver an outstanding independent wealth-advice experience, focused on collaboration, simplicity, accountability and trust. Motivated, talented advisers build trusted client relationships that last for many years.”

Prior to Messenger’s stint at Abrdn, he was partner and national head of wealth advisory at Grant Thornton for 17 years, providing wealth advice to private clients and companies.

Moneyfarm developed the investment app for M&G Wealth. The app was launched in January.

Saxo, which is the custodian bank for Moneyfarm, provides technological infrastructure that allows customers to gain access to global capital markets.

Investors now have access to actively managed funds, investing in equities, bonds and alternatives, from investment managers such as Wellington, Federated Hermes and First Sentier.

Christine Kiener, head of institutional sales at Saxo UK, said: “Over the past eight years, we’ve built a strong and successful partnership with Moneyfarm. We were delighted to support Moneyfarm in the launch of their new proposition, delivering mutual fund portfolios to M&G Wealth &me customers.”

Giovanni Dapra, chief executive at Moneyfarm said: “Our ongoing partnership with Saxo combines the scale and experience of an established player with the nimble and innovative nature of a digital fintech business. We were excited to partner with Saxo on this project and were delighted by the speed and efficiency of delivery.”

This comes a year after M&G acquired a minority stake in digital wealth manager Moneyfarm.

This comes after M&G acquired a minority stake in Moneyfarm in January 2022, and as part of the deal, the two entered into a partnership for the creation of the app.

The investment app called &me was developed in nine months for the wealth giant and will be available via Android, iOS or as a web app.

The two companies said the solution wants to target a “new generation of savers” with a “digital-first investing experience”.

Moneyfarm will provide the marketing coordination services, as well as operate the core platform, provide relationship management, portfolio management and investment advice services to &me customers. M&G Wealth, on the other hand, will offer advice to Moneyfarm on the composition and rebalancing of the risk weighted portfolios.

Growth

Giovanni Daprà, co-founder and chief executive at Moneyfarm, said: “Moneyfarm was launched to help make investing more accessible, simple and transparent. As part of this we have been growing our B2B2C partnerships and leveraging our API capabilities. This has been very successful in Italy and already embedded into the propositions of Poste Italiane, Unicredit’s Buddybank and Banca Sella, serving thousands of customers.

“In the UK we are very excited to launch our first partnership with M&G and look forward to helping many more savers in their digital wealth journey.”

Daniel Giddings, head of business development UK at Moneyfarm, added: “To bring a bespoke ‘platform as a service’ solution and new brand to market in just nine months is almost unheard of. We have offered full flexibility of approach in the launch of &me and provided a fully outsourced solution. &me brings together Moneyfarm’s best-in-class technology, M&G Wealth’s investment expertise and the all-important human touch provided by the dedicated &me investment consultants.

“The platform uses an algorithm when clients go through the onboarding process and a suitable portfolio is advised upon. This is based on the customer’s specific risk appetite, financial knowledge and financial situation. What was most important for M&G was to have the human touch and we have provided dedicated &me consultants that clients are able to reach out to in a way that suits them, by phone, in-app, webchat or video calls, supporting them with their portfolio, the wider market or building their investment plan.

“Moneyfarm is focused on delivering for our partners and continuing to evolve our proposition and developing our B2B2C solutions is a key area of growth for our business.”

Joseph Pinto will become chief executive of M&G Asset Management, effective from March 2023 and subject to regulatory approval.

He will join from Natixis Investment Managers, where he has served as head of distribution and investment solutions for Emea, Apac and LatAm and global chief operating officer.

Pinto will succeed Jonathan Daniels who will retire after 21 years with the business.

Natixis Investment Managers

Fabrice Chemouny has been appointed head of international distribution to replace Pinto.

He was previously head of Asia Pacific at Natixis Investment Managers.

Christophe Lanne, chief administration officer for Asset & Wealth Management, will oversee post-sales support activities for international distribution, as well as Natixis IM solutions activities, in addition to his existing responsibilities for global operations and technology, human resources and corporate social responsibility strategy.

IFGL

The financial services giant has recruited Greg Watson for the newly created role of chief technology officer.

He previously held a similar position at Sainsbury’s Bank in Edinburgh.

Metlife UK

The insurance provider hired Justin Harper as head of propositions for the UK.

He was most recently at LV= where he led the protection proposition development team.

Eastspring Investments

The Prudential subsidiary has named Faizal Gaffoor as deputy regional chief executive and head of products and partnerships.

He joined the business in December 2022 in Singapore from UOB Asset Management where he served as managing director and group chief marketing officer.

Wealth Professional

The UK-based financial advice and consultancy firm has appointed David Webster as director.

He will help the company enhance the customer experience and further grow the business.

Webster has provided consultancy services to several financial advice firms and, prior to that, held senior positions at IFA companies.

FNZ

The global platform has hired Renata Mrazova as group chief people officer, based in Prague.

She most recently held a similar role at Home Credit International.

Harding Loevner

The US-based asset manager has recruited Richard Clarke-Wilson as business development lead for the UK and Ireland.

He is the first member of the business development team to be based outside of the US and will be tasked with building relationships with intermediaries in the region.

Clarke-Wilson was previously at Majedie Asset Management where he spent more than six years as client director.

LGIM

The investment manager has strengthened its presence in Switzerland with a senior hire.

Patrick Lutz becomes head of wholesale distribution in the country, based in the newly opened Zurich office.

He spent the last 14 years at Franklin Templeton where most recently he was country head for Switzerland.

The Pearl Family Office

The London-based family office has hired Jamila Long as relationship director.

She has held several senior roles at Standard Chartered Bank, Barclays Private Banking and more recently at Chateau Fiduciaire.

Irwin Mitchell

The law firm has made a senior hire in its Birmingham office.

Ian Bond has joined the private client team as a partner from Thursfields where he was head of Wills and estates.

Irwin Mitchell added that it intends to make another partner and associate in March to expand the practice in the Midlands.

The bond, which has been available to UK advisers through Ireland-based Prudential International Assurance (PIA) since 2020, will give advisers in the jurisdictions access to a wide range of investment options, including its PruFund range.

IPB is a single premium insurance contract that offers online illustrations for individual, corporate and trustees cases, and online applications for individual cases.

As well as the PruFund range of funds, advisers and their clients can invest in funds from external fund managers within the same international bond.

Michael Leahy, managing director of PIA, said: “Modern, digital products are in high demand and we’re delighted to be able to extend the availability of Prudential International Portfolio Bond, with its online functionality and wide investment choice, to advisers and their clients based in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

“Today’s launch also gives advisers in these jurisdictions access, for the first time, to the PruFund Planet range funds, which offers their clients the combined benefits of smoothed market returns and positive environmental and societal outcomes.”