UK's largest wealth manager St James's Place to embrace crypto after fund management overhaul

St James's Place's chief investment officer has revealed to City AM that there will be a continued significant reshuffling of who manages some of the UK's largest funds.

In December, the country's leading wealth manager withdrew £2bn from Somerset Capital Management, a firm founded by Jacob Rees-Mogg, leading to its immediate closure as the mandate accounted for about two-thirds of its assets, as reported by City AM.

This week, Gloucestershire-based St James's Place made a similar move, dropping Impax Asset Management and two others as managers of a struggling £9.9bn fund, causing the smaller asset manager's stock price to drop six per cent over the past two days.

Justin Onuekwusi, who took on the role of chief investment officer a year ago, stated that investors should anticipate "a number of changes" in terms of which asset managers control the substantial amount of money in its coffers.

"But I think it's important to take a step back as well and say the proposition always has to evolve. It's not that I've come in and now it's a big bang," added Onuekwusi. This move could have serious implications for the entire UK financial industry, as asset managers vie to manage money for the wealth giant.

Over the past year, St James's Place has had to evolve more than most asset managers, following accusations that it was 'stuck in the past' and the introduction of consumer duty.

The Financial Conduct Authority's Consumer Duty, introduced last year, mandates all financial services to "put their customers' needs first". Despite this, St James's Place has faced challenges due to high charges, exit costs, and non-transparent fee bundling, prompting a need for reform to maintain its status as the industry's leading wealth manager.

Savers have struggled to determine if they're getting value for money from St James's Place becau