Nucleus hits profitability for the first time

Nucleus has hit profitability for the first time since it went live in November 2006.

Nucleus' chief executive David Ferguson said the wrap had hit a 'major milestone' after making a profit of around £40,000 in April.

A total of £7 million has been invested into Nucleus since launch, while assets have grown from zero to £1.5 billion over the last three and a half years.

Ferguson said he had expected the business to become profitable sooner - when assets went through the £1.2 billion mark in February - but noted the credit crunch had stalled its plan.

He said: 'Having lived through the credit crunch hopefully people will now believe more than ever in the business model.

'There is a lot of opportunity through the retail distribution review (RDR) and beyond, and although we are a younger firm compared to some competitors, we are well placed  in terms of having an unbundled model, and we aspire to be a substantial player in the sector.'

Nucleus' total assets are small compared to the industry as a whole which is worth £100 billion. The market is dominated by Fidelity FundsNetwork, Cofunds and Skandia Investment Solutions, which house around 85% of all the assets on platforms.

Peer Aviva today called for an industry-wide re-registration campaign to be put in place well ahead of RDR - something which would potentially help some of the smaller players in the market to grow their assets.

Ferguson said he supported plans for re-registration, and expected a solution in the near future. 'There is a lot of momentum around that, and I think it will be in place well ahead of RDR,' he said.