JPMorgan Chase Acquires Nutmeg to Extend Footprints in the UK

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMorgan Chase), one of the oldest financial institutions in the US, announced yesterday that it has acquired the UK digital wealth manager Nutmeg, so as to further its expansion into the UK retail banking and investment market.

Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed yet, but reportedly, Nutmeg was valued at close to 700 million pounds ($972.79 million).

Launched in 2012, with over 140,000 clients and more than 3.5 billion pounds ($4.89 billion) in assets under management, Nutmeg will form the basis of JPMorgan Chase's retail digital wealth management offering worldwide. Moreover, the US bank giant has already partnered with Nutmeg on product launch in last November.

The bank is endeavoring to develop a brand aiming to become a full-service retail bank under its Chase brand, to compete with Goldman Sachs’ consumer brand Marcus, which was launched in Britain in 2018.

"We are building Chase in the UK from scratch using the very latest technology and putting the customer's experience at the heart of our offering, principles that Nutmeg shares with us," said Sanoke Viswanathan, CEO of international consumer at JPMorgan Chase.

Nutmeg became one of Britain's best known financial technology companies and robo-advisers very fast. Whereas, it has not met the earning capacity. JPMorgan Chase confirmed the acquisition and said that it would complement the group's UK digital bank launch under its Chase brand later this year.