The former chief executive of Titan Wealth has launched a new wealth management business in a bid to modernise the traditional market.
Derek Miles, who is also the former chief executive of Aspira, launched Nine Edge Wealth on Wednesday with co-founder Kyle Augustin, who was previously chief executive at Fintel IQ.
Jo Blake, also formerly of Titan Wealth and England Rugby World Cup winner Matthew Dawson, also joined the business, with Dawson acting as non-executive director.
The group secured an undisclosed start-up investment from specialist private equity investor BP Marsh and Partners.
Upon leaving Titan, Miles felt he wasn’t yet ready “for the scrap heap”, leading him to found Nine Edge Wealth, in a bid to modernise the market and meet changing customer needs.
Speaking in an interview with City AM, he said: “I think there’s a lot of opportunity in the industry. It’s still very staid and old.
“We haven’t really leapt forward in terms of delivering a great customer experience.”
Miles pointed to the need to remove jargon and complexity when communicating with clients, coupled with ending the sluggish state of wealth management transfers, often caused by strict security protocols and legacy technology.
Fears surrounding AI in the wealth management business have also been gaining traction over the last month, after a number of UK wealth managers saw their share prices tumble upon the launch of a new AI tool promising to help financial advisers personalise clients’ investment strategies.
But Miles brushed off concerns, believing technology is not yet set to take over the industry.
Miles said: “We’re going to use technology to enhance that client-advisor relationship, not replace it.
“I think we’re still quite a way away, particularly in the mass-affluent [market], from the face to face trust being gone.”
Serving the affluent
Miles also confirmed Nine Edge is prepared to go toe to toe with other businesses to attract and serve the mass affluent, who typically have between £50,000 and £5m in investable assets, before turning its attention to the masses.
He said: “Your next mass affluent are currently in the mass markets. We’re going to turn them into the mass affluent.”
Miles also voiced the need for financial advice and education across customer bases, allowing customers the opportunity to grow wealth and improve their financial situation.
While the company has expanded its presence in London, with a number of financial advisor hires, Miles is looking to expand across the UK, through acquisitions and further hires.
The group has initially acquired Edinburgh-based financial advice firm RMS Limited for an undisclosed amount, to bolster its presence and assist in becoming regulated business quicker.
He said: “It gets us a regulated status. We can start to build out organically quicker.”
Miles added the group is looking at “other acquisitions as well” to continue scaling.
Future goals
The group has also set an aggressive pace for its first 12 months in the industry, aiming to move quickly from being a start up to a significant market player.
Alongside its acquisition pipeline, the group is aiming for a large assets under management milestone, with Miles aiming for the company to “be over half a billion by the end of year one”.
The group is also planning to broaden its services away from traditional wealth management into tax returns, trust executive services and general insurance and diversify revenue streams.