The online wealth manager has replaced its founding CEO.

Nutmeg's founding chief executive Nick Hungerford has stepped down, handing over to the company's chief revenue officer, Martin Stead.

Hungerford, who founded Nutmeg with William Todd in 2012, will remain with the company as non-executive director. Stead joined last year from EDF Energy where he was marketing, digital and sales director. His appointment to the helm follows a review of Nutmeg's leadership structure, the company said in a statement today.

“The business is growing at pace and Nutmeg now manages hundreds of millions of pounds for tens of thousands of customers, with the customer base growing by 37 per cent since the start of this year alone.” said Nutmeg chairman, Craig Anderson.

Nutmeg said it enjoyed “record-breaking growth” in the first quarter but gave no figures. The company, which does not publish annual financial results on its website, said Stead was well-placed to lead the company through its next stage of its development. Nutmeg has a number of prominent shareholders, including UK-listed Schroders, venture capital firm Balderton and Carphone Warehouse founder Charles Dunstone. When contacted by this publication, Schroders had no comment on the change of leadership.

“Nick has helped build a team of talented, dedicated individuals; creating an intuitive service that is a shining example of how investing should be; and attracting admiration and media interest from around the world. We thank Nick immensely for his extraordinary achievement as CEO, his relentless hard work and thought leadership and are delighted to have him remain on the Board of Nutmeg,” said Anderson.

Hungerford added: “The time is right to hand over the role of CEO to Martin to manage and further accelerate Nutmeg's growth. My role at Nutmeg is geared toward building the brand, developing the vision and making sure Nutmeg has a voice among its peer group. I look forward to assuming my new role and I’m delighted that Martin has agreed to take on the role of CEO.”

Nutmeg’s investment team builds and manages portfolios based on customers’ investment goals and aligned to their risk appetite. The company is one of several so-called robo-advisors that have come on the wealth management scene to provide an online service. Other players include MoneyFarm and Wealthify, which launched last month in the UK.