Wealth management platform FNZ has raised $1.4bn in new equity funding, which values the company at more than $20bn.
The funding round was led by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and Motive Partners (Motive). CPP Investments has invested a total of $1.1bn.
FNZ intends to use the funds to advance its growth by improving its R&D efforts, along with driving growth in existing markets, especially in North America.
As part of the financing, Motive Partners founder and managing partner Rob Heyvaert will be appointed as a non-executive director of the FNZ board.
Heyvaert said: “Since FNZ’s inception, its growth trajectory has been extraordinary, and as we combine our strength of expertise, knowledge and access to the global financial services ecosystem, we have the opportunity to deliver an exceptional value-proposition to wealth and asset management customers all over the world to meet growing demand.”
CPP Investments direct private equity managing director, Europe head Hafiz Lalani said: “FNZ offers a unique, end-to-end value proposition which enables the world’s leading wealth managers to provide personalised, transparent and accessible solutions to enhance consumers’ long-term savings while reducing cost and complexity.
“FNZ has seen considerable success and we are excited to support FNZ and its leadership in continuing to deliver on their vision to expand FNZ’s global footprint, while at the same time delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns for CPP contributors and beneficiaries.”
Established in 2003, FNZ is engaged in providing platform-as-a-service investment platforms to financial institutions across Europe, Asia Pacific, South Africa and North America.
It combines technology, infrastructure and investment operations in a single platform that enables the institutions to create hyper-personalised products and services for their clients.
The company partners with more than 650 financial institutions and 8,000 wealth management firms including Allianz, Aviva, Barclays, BNP Paribas Cardif, among others.
In 2018, CDPQ and Generation Investment Management acquired a majority stake in the company, joined by Temasek in 2021, expanding its operations into Asian markets.
For the equity capital raise, Lazard & Co. served as an exclusive financial adviser and Allen & Overy as lead legal adviser to FNZ.
FNZ founder and group CEO Adrian Durham said: “Today’s announcement represents a resounding endorsement of FNZ’s track record and future strategy.
“The company has successfully demonstrated exponential growth in the scale and depth of customer relationships and geographic expansion with platform revenues more than quadrupling in the past three years to over $1billion per annum, whilst also growing profitably and sustainably.
“Our growth trajectory shows no signs of slowing down, and we are delighted to welcome CPP Investments and Motive Partners to FNZ and look forward to working with them as we further invest in and enhance our core platform, delivering substantial incremental benefits to our customers and their clients.”
