Local wealth manager launches family investing app

Sophia Jarvis, a local Wealth Manager and co-founder Gerry Coughlan have launched a new company Mia Wealth, a new UK family investing and gifting app designed to make investing for children as easy and natural as buying them toys.

Sophia has spent more than 15 years in financial services and family wealth management, including at Schroders and St. James’s Place. As a family wealth manager, she saw first-hand the difference that starting early could make when building wealth for the next generation, as well as the barriers faced by families who do not already understand how investing works.
A CFA charter holder, Sophia has been recognised as Wealth Manager of the Year 2022 and Rising Star of the Year 2024 at Investment Week’s Women in Investment Awards.

Sophia said, “Mia came from something I had believed for years as a family wealth manager: the earlier you start investing for a child, the more time that money has to potentially grow. Then I became a mum to my twin girls and it became even more personal. I knew I wanted to start investing for them from the beginning, but the experience all felt far more fragmented than it should have.

When I came home from hospital after birth, we were greeted by so much generosity from family and friends but sadly so many gifts were never really used. It made me realise how often people genuinely want to give something meaningful to a child, but are not always sure what will be most useful. I wanted one place dedicated to my children’s wealth, where the people who love them could contribute easily and feel part of building their future. That is why Mia allows grandparents, godparents, aunties, uncles and friends to leave written messages, voice notes and videos alongside their gifts.

Now, thousands of families have joined our waitlist and that makes me incredibly proud. Because this is about so much more than an investment balance. Investing for a child is not just a financial transaction, it’s emotional. It is about what that money could one day represent: a first home, the confidence to start a business, or a legacy from a grandparent that is still there supporting them decades later through their Junior Pension. Mia was born out of my own frustration as a new mum, but the ambition is much bigger: to give every child’s wealth a home of its own, and make investing for children feel as normal, personal and meaningful as buying them a toy.”

Parents can open a Junior Stocks & Shares ISA for their child from £20, while grandparents, godparents, aunties, uncles, family and friends can gift from £10 directly through the app.
Rather than buying a physical gift, loved ones can choose to put money towards a child’s financial future, with the potential to grow over time. Gifters can download the app and track their gifts over time and also add a written message, voice note or video alongside their gift, saved in the child’s digital Memory Box for them to unlock when they turn 18.

When you invest, your child’s capital is at risk and its value can go down as well as up.

Mia brings children’s investing and family gifting together in one dedicated, family-focused, easy-to-use, mobile-first platform, with a Junior Pension launching 19 December* (waitlist available to join in-app).

For more details go to https://miawealth.co.uk/