Trustees Executors (TE) has sold another piece of the business after offloading its custody and fund accounting operations for an undisclosed sum to rival, Apex Group today.
The Bermuda-based Apex will add the TE business units – including about 30 people – to its NZ subsidiary (formerly known as MMC) in a further expansion in the country for the global investment administration firm.
TE retains both its supervisor and registry divisions.
The deal comes just a few months after the iconic Wellington-based business sold its wealth advisory arm to Perpetual Guardian.
In a release today, Peter Hughes, Apex Group global chief, said the “addition of Trustee Executors’ solutions and people, provides further capability, efficiency and investment into the investment Groupadministration market in New Zealand”.
Apex bought the pioneering NZ investment admin business MMC late in 2021, following up with a buy-out of fund-hosting and platform provider, Implemented Investment Solutions (IIS) the year after.
IIS, founded by Anthony Edmonds (now Apex NZ chief), offered both fund-hosting – now under the FundRockNZ brand – and the InvestNow direct-to-consumer investment platform.
Edmonds said the purchase of the TE assets would further strengthen the Apex NZ presence in the fund accounting and custody sectors without reducing competition in a fragmented market.
“We estimate collectively Apex and TE provide less than 30 per cent of investment accounting/unit pricing services and 10 per cent of custody services,” Edmonds said. “We think that this is an exciting opportunity to further strengthen and evolve our offering in each of these areas.”
He said custody and fund-accounting tend to be dominated in NZ by large global firms while many businesses “in-source these services”.
MMC, founded in 2006 as an outsourced fund administration firm, launched a custody solution in 2018 while moving into the investment platform game the following year by acquiring Aegis from ASB.
“Scale, strength, and expertise – coupled with a great people with a strong focus on clients, are all factors needed to be successful in these areas globally,” Edmonds said.
All current TE staff in the custody and fund-accounting divisions would transition to Apex.
Rob Russell, TE chair (and ex chief), said in a statement: “As a well-established company with a domestic and global presence, there are positive benefits for our employees, clients, and their investors or members becoming part of Apex Group.”
The transition to Apex for clients “will be seamless”, Edmonds said, with technological integration possible down the track.
“Completion of the acquisition is conditional on the satisfaction of customary conditions for a transaction of this nature,” the joint TE-Apex statement says, while the firms will also consult with regulators.
Bell Gully served as legal adviser to Apex.