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Get up to 200,000 Avios with Nutmeg – for both new and existing customers

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This article is sponsored by Nutmeg

Nutmeg, the digital wealth manager, has launched a new Avios offer for 2021.

You can earn up to 200,000 Avios by transferring an existing Stocks & Shares ISA or pension into Nutmeg by 18th July.

Even better, the offer is available for new and existing customers, so you won’t miss out if you’re already investing with Nutmeg.

The offer is for ISA and pension transfers only and not applicable for opening a brand new pension or ISA where no transfer takes place.

Nutmeg Avios offer

The bonus you get depends on the exact amount you transfer, starting with a 2,500 Avios bonus when you transfer £5,000 or more.

The reward is based on the cumulative value of the transfer throughout the offer period which is beneficial if you choose to consolidate several existing ISAs or pensions with Nutmeg.

The Avios earning rate increases to 1 point per £1 transferred for transfers of £50,000+. A £200,000+ investment earns you the maximum 200,000 Avios. Full details of the offer can be found here or here for existing customers.

Choose between Avios or an investment reward

Nutmeg has decided to add an Avios incentive to its usual transfer offer this year.

When you make your transfer bonus you can choose whether you wish to receive Avios or an ‘investment boost’. An investment boost is simply a cash bonus that is placed directly into your investment account.

Because of the ‘investment boost’ option you are effectively buying Avios at 1p if you choose points. This is decent value – you would struggle to buy Avios cheaper. Even during the 75% buy Avios bonus last year you were only getting Avios for slightly less at 0.9p.

What is Nutmeg?

Nutmeg is an online wealth management service that builds and manages sophisticated global investment portfolios for anyone looking to invest as little as £500. Nutmeg uses technology to keep costs low and help boost your returns.

Your money is invested in what the company calls a robust, diversified portfolio that spreads risk across asset classes, geographies and industries. Users can view all of their investments and their returns using the app, or via their website.

YourMoney voted Nutmeg the best online Stocks and Shares ISA provider for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 and the company is rated ‘Great’ on Trustpilot.

You can select any one out of three investment styles and adjust your risk level as you see fit.  Nutmeg also offers a choice of socially responsible investing across all of their products.

The company was the first, and is the largest, digital wealth manager in the UK and now manages over £3 billion on behalf of over 130,000 investors (source: Boring Money, January 2021).

What transfers are eligible?

Only transfers of ISAs and pensions are eligible for the offer. You can transfer existing cash and stocks and shares ISAs.

General investment accounts, Lifetime ISA and Junior ISAs are not included.

For clarity, you will not receive a bonus if you are investing ‘new’ money not previously held in an ISA or pension. This time around, Nutmeg is only incentivising transfers of existing investments to its platform.

Why should I transfer to Nutmeg?

In their own words:

“We take the best elements of a high-end investing service, strip out the complexity and excessive cost, and provide it to you online. Let our team of investment experts look after your money and see how your portfolios are performing any time of the day via android and iOS apps.”

How many Avios will I receive?

Your Avios bonus depends on the value of the investments you are transferring.

You receive no bonus for investments under £5,000.

Transfer ValueInvestment Boost Reward*Avios Reward*
£200k+£2,000200,000
£150K+£1,500   150,000
£100k+£1,000100,000
£50k+£50050,000
£30k+£20020,000
£25k+£15015,000
£10K+£505,000
£5k+£252,500
* for the avoidance of doubt, rewards are not cumulative in nature and cannot be combined.

The full terms and conditions are here for existing customer transfers or here for new customer transfers.

You can of course transfer more, but the Avios reward is capped at 200,000 points and the ‘investment boost’ alternative is capped at £2,000.

When do I receive my Avios?

Avios will be awarded to your British Airways Executive Club account within six months of initiating your product transfer request. If the product transfer requires more than six months to be completed, the Avios will be awarded to your BAEC account upon transfer completion.

How do I apply?

If you are new to Nutmeg then go to the offer registration page using this link, where you can enter your email (remembering to add your British Airways Executive Club number if you are choosing Avios) then proceed to the account opening process during which you can initiate your transfer. Existing customers should use this link, and register with the email you use for Nutmeg, before logging in to your account to initiate your transfer.

Applications via the standard Nutmeg home page will not earn any Avios or the investment boost.

Remember, as with all investing, that your capital is at risk. Tax treatments depend on your individual circumstances and may change in the future. T&Cs apply. The value of your portfolio with Nutmeg can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invest.

Comments (46)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • The Original David says:

    Is buying avios at 1p good value though? I’d say no…

    • Memesweeper says:

      Right now I’m a buyer at < 0.79p 😁

      Rob is correct though, they are hard to buy directly at a penny each, and if you’re opening a Nutmeg account and are just short of what you need it might be better than taking the cash.

  • Toby says:

    Nutmeg have just announced they’re selling up to JP Morgan Chase – in case that influences your decision.

    • Olly says:

      Yeah. I have an old pension I transferred to them 26 months ago, which has grown 28% in that time. But with the Jp Morgan news, I’m loathe to commit anything further until I know a bit more about how it’s going to play out.

      • A says:

        Yes there has to be a chance there some changes to OCFs post-JPM acquisition, but regulatory clearance for that will take a little while to shake out

      • BuildBackBetter says:

        Costs are likely to come down as Chase will use it as a loss leader.
        Also I’d rather my platform was backed by one of the biggest banks in the world than a private outfit.

    • Alex Sm says:

      They already had one of their products powered by JPM, I’m currently using it and quite happy

  • NigelthePensioner says:

    I wonder how long the tie in time is to get the bonus cash or keep the Avios when they are transferred after 6 months? My guess is a year whereupon you transfer it all back to where it was!
    I have no issues with Morgan Chase, but i wouldn’t transfer any pensions into speculative portfolios – unless i was pension rich and under 30!

  • A says:

    Tie-in is 12 months, bear that in mind.

    Best way to view this is a rebate on the fees – but bear in mind A) Nutmeg is not cheap and there are significantly cheaper ways to invest (eg through interactive investor or vanguard using lower-cost funds) and B) rebate won’t cover the fees forever so you’re likely baking in a move elsewhere in the future to escape nutmeg’s higher ongoing fees, and you may be moving funds at an inopportune time.

    Don’t make a decision based on the free money alone. I’m just about to move a chunky pension out of a workplace scheme (fees gone up beyond previously employer negotiated deal as I won’t be contributing any longer) and still very likely not to transfer to nutmeg despite this offer

    • Richie says:

      Excellent comment, thanks for the information.

    • BuildBackBetter says:

      +1
      Never choose an investment platform based on one off incentives.
      Friend of mine opens ISA accounts every year based on whoever has the highest c@sh back! 🤦‍♂️

      • A says:

        That’s insane (the value of the cash back not the strategy, the strategy seems sensible)

  • SammyJ says:

    A bit O/T but you guys know everything…

    Any idea who would sign off a transfer out of an old final salary scheme? Got one from a job I did for 2 years when I was 20, which is worth pennies as a pension at 65 but has a transfer-out value of about £80k, which would nicely see my mortgage off if I can get it at 55. Every IFA I’ve spoken to says they totally agree with me but they just can’t sign it off as they can’t recommend a transfer out of the DBS.

    Any recommendations?

    • Jerry says:

      The FCA publishes a list of IFAs licensed to do defined benefit transfers. Work your way through the list. The reason they tend to advise against is because fca assumes transferring out is a bad move for most and its tightly regulated.

      • SammyJ says:

        Thanks! I must be looking at the wrong thing, I used the list before on the FCA site and couldn’t find any filters, or is it a different list? Just seemed to be a case of ringing each one and getting told no, they can’t tick the boxes for that.

    • AJA says:

      What is the reason they can’t recommend the transfer out of the DBS? Is it because of protected tax free lump sum or protected annuity rates? You say it is worth pennies as a pension but a fund worth £80k today is not pennies.

      I have a very small fund from a previous employer (only £5k after 20 years!) but it has a protected tax free sum of £2,700 so not moving it anywhere.

      • SammyJ says:

        They just simply won’t take the risk of the future claims against them by recommending any transfers out of a DB pension, they simply don’t/won’t do them.
        The last statement I got estimated something like £150 a month as a pension, which I’ve got very little nterest in, but £80k as a lump sum, however it needs to be done, 10 years from now is of massive benefit.

        • Memesweeper says:

          Unless the sums (and their fees) are very large the insurance risk isn’t worth their while to provide the advice.

          I’m in the same boat. Tempted to write to the FCA and complain — their rules requiring insurance backed advice is destroying my options.

          • James says:

            Yeah it is really difficult to find someone willing to do it in the first place and the ones who will want a fortune.

          • Lady London says:

            @memesweeper basically it seems the regulator aims to, and will succeed in, blocking DB transfers for all but the insanely wealthy and financially well connected by about a year’s time or so.

            Amongst other things there’s a recent requirement added that if you are in another work pension scheme currently, this would have to be first considered as where it should transfer to and a good reason found for that not to be suitable.

            My adviser commented that the regulator seems to have completely overlooked that if someone asks for a transfer they are far more likely to have a good reason for this, than the very, very, overwhelmingly great majority who do not ask to transfer.

          • Lady London says:

            It’s called ‘the advice gap’ and the regulator doesn’t care. The banning of contingent fee for transfer last October was probably the last straw. Who’s going to pay, say, £6,000 upfront for advice with all the regulator pressures and possible impact on the adviser’s Professional Indemnity Insurance costs that conspire to make a recommendation negative with infeasibly high hurdles for the majority of potential transfering members to overcome? So no transfer, and now owing £6,000. Something seems corrupt here.

            Even legitimate, sensible transfers are such a racket. Your adviser is driving a Bentley because as well as minimum % of your money being transferred ( which they like to call an ‘ad valorem’ in case you notice), and/or a flat rate fee if the base sum is not huge), the adviser does not seem to be obliged to tell you about the commissions he is also quite likely to be earning from the places your money is moved to. Worse, apparently lots of people are still in a more expensive share type of the same investment, due to still being classed as ‘advised’, years later even when they are no longer advised at all…

        • Rob says:

          There is a very good reason why everyone should think about it. Inside a SIPP, your children can inherit your unspent pension. Keep it in a defined benefit scheme and if you and your partner die early everything is lost.

          • James says:

            I have been considering transferring out of a DB scheme and this is an interesting point to add into the equation.

          • The Savage Squirrel says:

            Although it’s worth considering that the cost of the advice and transfer could buy you a lot of life insurance. It depends on the pension structure, but if it has transfer to spouse, you only need to insure against both of you dying which will cost bobbins compared to cover that pays out for one individual.

        • AJA says:

          The trouble is that you have to get advice for any pension worth over £30k. And £150 per month may not be much to you but it is also about any guaranteed percentage rises.

          Do you know the earliest age you can take the pension? What’s the reduction in value based on taking it earlier than your agreed pension age. Remember you can take 25% tax free so based on your £80k you should get £20k anyway.

          And sorry to be the bearer of more bad news, but did you know that in 2028 the age at which you can take a private pension is rising to 57 and then it will rise to 10 years before your state pension age?

          So you might be waiting a bit longer than 10 years even if you do find a willing IFA.

    • Rob says:

      There is a website called unbiased.co.uk where advisors can pitch for your work.

      I was told, however, that unless your pot is worth £300k transfer value then literally no-one will touch it because the fee doesn’t come close to covering the FCA penalty if they are accused of misselling down the line.

      You will need to provide proof that, under no scenario, would you ever need the money from that pension. If your mortgage is paid off and you have substantial savings and investments, you can claim that you have absolutely no requirement for a guaranteed inflation-linked £3k per year from this pension. The aim is that there should be a 99.9% risk that you will not end up falling back on state benefits if you take the £80k and blow it on sex, drugs and rock’n’roll (which I recommend you do, to be honest, since you’ll be a long time dead ….)

      • SammyJ says:

        Thanks for all the above guys. Basically sounds like I’m stuck with it as it is.

        I get that there are reasons for making it difficult but this is an extra pension that most people wouldn’t have, a bonus because I did an employer-based training qualification rather than university back in the 90s. If it’s meant to be ‘my choice’ I think it really sucks that it’s absolutely not my choice at all!

  • James says:

    What’s the minimum amount of time you have to leave your money there ?
    Is there a transfer in fee ?
    How much will it cost in fees / platform charges to leave £200k in for the minimum period of time ?
    Is there a transfer out fee ?

    All important questions which could have been addressed in the article.

  • James says:

    Can you transfer the shares & stocks in from an existing ISA /Pension or does it have to be turned to cash first ?

    • AJA says:

      You should be able to do an “in specie” transfer which basically is Latin and means you remain invested in the stock market throughout the transfer.

      • Genghis says:

        I thought nutmeg only offer their “styles”? Chance of in specie close to zero I think. On way in and way out (ie time out of market x 2).

        • AJA says:

          I defer to your superior knowledge on this Genghis. I’m not a Nutmeg customer.

      • Lady London says:

        I think in specie depends the share etc. being transferred, and also if sending and receiving platform are both set up to do in specie for that item.

        • Anon says:

          Might be relevant to some people – AJ Bell will accept DB pensions without advice is the transfer value is less than £30k. Other like Aviva wouldn’t tough it whilst Fidelity wanted £3,500 to transfer a pension worth £25k.
          There can be good reasons for doing this like if your life expectancy is short due to ill-health and the particular DB scheme pays very little if you die young i.e. far less than the transfer value which can then be passed on as inheritance tax free.

  • Alex Sm says:

    Two questions:

    1) is there any chance for Nutmeg to pay incentives for under 5k transfers? My partner wants to transfer in but his amount is lower

    2) when would they incentivise the existing customers? I’ve been a customer since 2017 and wouldn’t mind some Avios for my loyalty too! A good chance now to celebrate a tie-up with JPM

    • Freddy says:

      It is for existing customers…

      Get up to 200,000 Avios with Nutmeg – for both new and existing customers

      • Alex Sm says:

        Oh, you are absolutely right, are you not? Shame it’s over 5000 though…

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