Opulence Investment Management (O-IM) has launched to serve high net worth and mass affluent clients across the UK.
It was founded by Lewis Hamm and Carl Stelfox, two risk and wealth management specialists with over 35 years of combined experience at JP Morgan.
O-IM is a multi-asset, multi-strategy investment manager that allocates to a broad range of products and “believes in direct equity exposure alongside passive and active funds”.
The firm has a registered office in London and a main office in Bournemouth. It obtained Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval in August 2021.
Offering
O-IM said it wants to serve high net worth and mass affluent clients who would benefit from “personalised advice but also crave ease of use, simplicity and unpretentious ‘anytime, anywhere’ service”.
Clients are served anywhere in the UK in person and can log into their online portal anywhere in the world. Investors need investable assets of £250,000 ($344,798, €290,391) or more to access the firm’s services.
O-IM said: “Many investors in the UK have been left wanting by private banks that are costly and have high minimum investment thresholds, traditional wealth managers who shoehorn their diverse clients into a limited set of generic products, and robo-advisers that provide access to only a narrow range of pooled, mostly passive, investment products with only a generic email as a contact.”
Management
Hamm will take on the role of chief executive and chief investment officer.
He has over 15 years’ experience in financial services, mostly at JP Morgan, where he was an executive director in its private bank.
Stelfox will be chief risk and compliance officer.
He has over 20 years professional experience having held leadership roles in risk management and compliance at JP Morgan.
Underserved
Hamm said: “Trapped between private banks that are inaccessible to all but the wealthiest and mass market providers that offer only a narrow range of pooled, often passive and often expensive, investment products, a significant number of UK investors have for too long been underserved.
“We’re here to change that. We’ve jettisoned the stuffiness and mountains of paperwork but we’ve kept the important elements of a high-end investment manager: robust risk management, experienced human investment advisers, and – most importantly – an unrelenting focus on treating each client as an individual with very specific goals.”
Stelfox added: “We designed O-IM from the ground up to be efficient, agile and environmentally conscious.
“Our clients enjoy all the simplicity and convenience the latest technology can provide: they’re onboarded digitally; documents are signed electronically; and portfolio updates, insights and reports are published online.”
