Clove: Building the Financial Institution for a New Generation
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Today’s financial advice industry is set up to only serve individuals who are already wealthy, resulting in a huge financial advice gap that impacts hundreds of millions of people globally.1 Recognizing this, the FCA has introduced regulatory changes to help bridge the advice gap - explicitly encouraging low-cost, segmented advice that incumbents are not set up to deliver.2
Even for those for whom advice is available, there is deep customer dissatisfaction with incumbents renowned for their poor offerings and high fees. Meanwhile digital expectations have drastically changed for newer generations of customers. They now expect intuitive and transparent digital experiences when interacting with the financial sector and the traditional financial advice industry is lagging behind. We believe there is a clear gap for someone to build the wealth management service of the future – similar to how Monzo, Revolut and Wise upended traditional banking/FX.
These factors create the ideal conditions for a new kind of financial institution – one built for trust and scale – to come into the market. Enter Clove. Founders Christian Owens and Alex Loizou recognized there is an urgent need to make financial expertise accessible to everyone. With the right advice, life milestones such as buying a home, starting a family, setting up a business or retiring early can become more attainable and not just the stuff of dreams.
Right from our first meeting it was clear that Christian and Alex are incredibly passionate about the problem and the impact that solving it could have for customers. Their starting premise was that this remains a deeply human problem and we were excited by the unique insights they had developed around how to offer approachable, human financial advice that is supercharged by AI.
As well as a deep passion for empowering everyone to take control of their financial futures, Christian and Alex have a proven track record of building and scaling businesses, strategic vision and unbridled ambition. Christian has been building businesses from the age of 14 and founded global payments infrastructure business Paddle when he was just 18. The company went on to raise $300M and hit unicorn status. Alex built ecommerce marketplace Trouva, which partnered with more than 650 independent fashion, home and lifestyle shops and boutiques across the UK and Europe, and shipped to more than 30 countries worldwide. It was acquired by Made.com in 2022.
We believe there is no better team to take on the challenge of making financial advice more accessible, more affordable and more effective than ever before. We’re looking forward to backing their vision as they seek to create a new kind of financial institution.
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1. Per OECD/INFE 2023 Global Survey “only 24% of adults seek advice from independent sources when purchasing financial products and services”
2. FCA, 30 June 2025: Bridging the advice gap: Estimating the relationship between financial advice and wealth
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