Investors will see a new but familiar name in the DIY investment market from today as US fund giant JPMorganChase enters the fray.
The launch of J.P. Morgan Personal Investing will see the firm will become part of a DIY platform landscape that is already hugely competitive. The new business will be available both directly and through the Chase UK app, with its DIY platform scheduled to go live in early 2026.
The arrival of such a big name in the DIY platform arena suggests the potential for a shake-up that could ultimately be to the benefit of investors. So, what’s happening and how might investors be affected?
Why now?
This has been on the cards since 2021, when JPMorganChase bought Nutmeg in a deal valuing the latter at £700m. Nutmeg, founded in 2012, is one of the most recognisable names in the digital investment market, but the Nutmeg online investing brand will now disappear, to be replaced by JP Morgan Personal Investing.
What does it mean if I’ve got investments with Nutmeg?
Existing Nutmeg customers will be transferred to the new service over the next year to 18 months. While the firm has pledged to keep portfolios intact during the transition, some elements – such as costs and charges – will be overhauled in the medium term.
The new service will eventually look quite different to the Nutmeg model. The latter is currently an online discretionary investment manager (often referred to as a robo-adviser). This means it makes investment decisions on behalf of its customers, building and managing diversified portfolios for them, rather than providing a platform for people to buy and sell investments.
However, the new proposition will see clients with portfolios worth more than £250,000 given access to dedicated relationship managers, suggesting a shift away from Nutmeg’s relatively simple digital investment model, while the platform launch next year will be a further change.
It will also introduce a new free Wealth Planner tool that will allow investors to explore the potential impact on their goals and finances before making decisions.
I’m a Nutmeg customer. What should I do?
There’s nothing you need to do in the short-term as you’ll be transferred to the new service automatically. The main thing you’ll notice from 3 November is the Nutmeg branding on the website and app being replaced by the JP Morgan Personal Investing brand. The main investment products will remain unchanged. The firm said its client services team is available Monday to Friday to answer any questions customers may have.
Once the migration of customer accounts has been completed, however, have a look at how the JP Morgan proposition stacks up against other platforms. This is worth doing even if the change doesn’t impact you – our investment needs change over time and there’s a chance that the platform that worked best for you a few years ago may no longer be the most suitable now. Run your own comparison using our free comparison tools to choose the right platform for you, and check out our tips on getting the best out of your platform.
How will the new service compare with other platforms?
It’s too early to know, given many details are yet to be revealed. But one thing seems certain: JPMorganChase’s scale gives it the opportunity to make a big splash in the platform market.
It may well make a pricing play, with low-costs that enable it to undercut its biggest rivals (such as Hargreaves Lansdown, Fidelity and AJ Bell), potentially offering a flat-fee structure similar to Vanguard (which charges a platform fee of 0.15% a year, capped at £375 a month for accounts over £250,000). For instance, if it sets up with annual fees of 0.20 to 0.25% – as some analysts predict – it will offer a notable contrast with the 0.45% annual account charge levied by Hargreaves.
JPMorganChase will also cater to a much wider range of investors than Nutmeg, especially DIY investors who want to manage their own portfolios.
What will it mean for the platform market?
The launch of a new DIY platform under the JP Morgan name heralds the arrival of a brand with the heft to compete with the UK’s biggest platforms. However, this is an already highly competitive market in which prices have come down significantly in recent years and the choice available to investors is broad.
At one end of the market are big, established names such as interactive investor, AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown, which all offer deep investment choice and a range of portfolio options. At the other end are the newer 0% commission brokers with much less investment choice but which have driven costs down even further.
Investors will be hoping that if JP Morgan Personal Investing is particularly competitive on fees, it could drag the other big names into a price war that would bring costs down even more. In the meantime, make sure you’re already getting a good deal by using our platform comparison tools to see how your current platform shapes up against others.
