• JPMorgan Asset Management has hired three ETF distribution and product specialists as it continues its push into passive investments in Europe. Olivier Paquier, Ivan Durdevic and John Harrington will be based in London
  • Netwealth has posted a £3.1m loss in accounts recently filed at Companies House. The online investment management company went live in late May 2016, meaning it was operational for around 10 months of its accounting year
  • Wealthsimple, the Canadian robo-advice firm which launched in the UK in September 2017, has launched a range of socially responsible investing portfolios. The portfolios have fees of between 0.5% and 0.7%, which includes access to on-demand advice by phone or email, and are designed for different risk levels: conservative, balanced and growth. The minimum investment is £5,000
  • Falcon, the Swiss private bank, is offering clients a compliant process for investing wealth generated from trading in cryptocurrencies. Additionally, a Bitcoin ATM has been installed in the lobby of the bank’s headquarters in Zurich
  • True Potential has announced that it will launch its automated advice service this year after working with the FCA as part of its regulatory sandbox and advice unit to make it ready for clients. The service will use two chatbots, which rely on artificial intelligence to provide either guidance in the form of passive information or automated advice based on information which the system has gathered
  • Virgin Money has been criticised for failing to lower the fees on one of its index tracking funds, which currently costs investors more than 350% more than near-identical products. The passive fund, which tracks the FTSE All Share index, charges 1%. Virgin responded by saying: ‘Many providers promote what may seem to be low charges, but then have a range of other fees including initial charges, platform charges and exit fees. Some also impose restrictions such as a high minimum investment’