Nucleus Financial Group PLC Strategic Update and Directorate Change (9096K)

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RNS Number : 9096K

Nucleus Financial Group PLC

07 September 2021

7 September 2021

Nucleus Financial Group plc

("Nucleus")

Strategic Update and Directorate Change

   --      Nucleus name to be used for enlarged group, replacing James Hay's name and brand 
   --      Richard Rowney announces highly experienced group senior leadership team 
   --      David Ferguson to step down from the Board and leave following a period of handover 

-- Adoption of group brand and leadership team enables alignment on future strategy, without creating operational change for customers of either platform

On 6(th) August 2021 it was announced that the recommended takeover offer (the "Offer") by James Hay Holdings Limited ("James Hay") for the entire issued share capital of Nucleus had been declared wholly unconditional. As a result, and in line with commitments given, a strategic review of the Nucleus platform is underway.

With cGBP47 billion of AUA*, the group is now one of the largest adviser platform providers in the UK, with the scale to enable greater investment in technology, products, and service for the benefit of advisers and their clients.

While the Nucleus and James Hay platforms will continue to operate separately for the immediate future, and there is no current change to the operations or services of either, the strategic review will help to inform the creation of a leading financial planning and retirement-focused adviser platform, developed from the best features of both existing platforms. This will include a comprehensive range of tax wrappers with a leading SIPP with enhanced drawdown capability, alongside providing value to advisers through exploiting data, deeply integrating with practice management systems, and having digital customer journeys at its heart.

While the full group review remains ongoing, several decisions have already been reached and the Board is today providing an update from the initial phase.

Nucleus Brand

After extensive consideration, in recognition of Nucleus' trusted and leading brand with advisers in the UK platform market, we are today confirming that the Nucleus name has been chosen to be used for the group's combined future platform proposition for advisers. A new visual style to support this decision will be implemented in the future in line with the group's development plans, when finalised.

Senior Leadership Team

Having joined the Board of Nucleus earlier this month, Richard Rowney, Group CEO of James Hay, will now assume day-to-day responsibility for the leadership of the enlarged group, comprising both Nucleus and James Hay. Richard will take on the responsibilities of David Ferguson, Nucleus' departing CEO who has decided to move on and pursue other opportunities, after a period of handover. David will be standing down from the Nucleus Board with immediate effect. Richard will be supported by a highly experienced leadership team to take the enlarged group forward:

Richard Warner, Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Richard will become Group COO of the combined group. He joined James Hay in November 2020 and has a significant track record of operational leadership, transformation and outsource management. During a 21-year career at Accenture he led one of their largest outsource contracts and was previously COO at LV= where he helped develop it into the UK's most trusted and recommended insurer.

Alex Kovach, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)

Alex joined James Hay from interactive investor last year where he led the commercial strategy, including pricing, brand and driving organic growth during a period where AUA grew from GBP3bn to GBP40bn. His current distribution, marketing and product development responsibilities will extend to include the whole group, including those areas previously covered by Barry Neilson, the former Nucleus Chief Customer Officer who is leaving.

Alison Longbottom, Chief People Officer (CPO)

Alison joined James Hay in October 2020 and has been confirmed as CPO for the combined group. Her career spans two decades, incorporating roles in the UK, Europe and Africa across FTSE 250 companies, private equity, B2B and B2G, and unionised manufacturing.

These appointments to the leadership team** take effect immediately, helping to ensure that while there is no change for the customers of either James Hay or Nucleus, the enlarged group is taking a coordinated and collective approach towards its combined future. Other Executive roles are still being considered and will be announced in due course.

Technology

This initial phase of the review has highlighted the significant skills, expertise and talent in both Nucleus and James Hay, and the opportunity this offers the enlarged group to compete successfully at scale. The combined management team is also working on a detailed evaluation of the existing technology arrangements and following completion later this year a further update will be provided.

CEO Richard Rowney commented: "We remain very excited by the combination of these two great businesses and are fully focused on taking the best of both firms forward as we create the leading retirement-focused adviser platform. The skills and talent within these organisations, combined with the significant scale of our combined group will enable greater investment in products, price and service, and ultimately meet the developing needs of advisers and their clients.

" Today's announcement is a significant milestone, enabling us to harness what is best from both businesses, on behalf of our customers. I would like to reiterate our great respect and admiration for what David Ferguson has achieved as a founder of Nucleus, and on behalf of everyone I would like to wish him all the very best for the future."

Nucleus Founder David Ferguson added: "It's 23 years since we started work on a collection of ideas that eventually led to the near GBP20bn platform that Nucleus is today. We aimed to create something that was truly collaborative, and it was my privilege to do this with some of the most talented people in the industry. I hope we've been able to make a contribution towards the positive changes in the profession over the years, and with the company now becoming a key part of a much bigger picture with James Hay, it feels like the right time for me to move on and consider a new challenge. I hand over to Richard and wish him, his leadership team and all my colleagues, new and old, best wishes for the future."

   *               AUA as at 30 June 2021 (GBP28.3bn James Hay & GBP18.9bn Nucleus) 

** Richard Warner, Alex Kovach and Alison Longbottom will not be joining the board of directors of Nucleus.

 
 Enquiries: 
 Richard Rowney, Group CEO            c/o [phone] 
 
 TB Cardew (media enquiries) 
 Tom Allison                          [phone] 
 Shan Willenbrock                     [phone] 
 
 Shore Capital (Nominated Adviser 
  and Corporate Broker to Nucleus)    [phone] 
 Hugh Morgan 
 Edward Mansfield 
 Daniel Bush 
 

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September 07, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)