FNZ has continued its global shopping spree into 2023, completing a German bank buy-out and making a key US acquisition.
The Wellington-founded platform giant extended a foothold in the US with the purchase of fixed income portfolio management technology firm, YieldX, last week just days after closing off a more than year-long effort to secure the German Fondsdepot Bank.
According to a release, the YieldX technology “will be integrated into FNZ’s wealth platform, enable clients to scan the universe of fixed-income opportunities globally, and quickly identify the outcomes that mirror their desired term and yield, based on their risk profile”.
Under the deal YieldX founders, Adam Green and Steve Gross, will take the respective roles as FNZ North America asset management chief executive, and, head of asset management strategy.
Launched just two years ago in 2020, YieldX boasts a clientbase ranging “from top-tier wealth and asset managers, to B2C financial services and technology providers operating across the globe”.
Tom Chard, FNZ North America chief, said the YieldX fixed income tools complemented the global platform’s technology and ‘mission’.
Chard said in a statement: “The acquisition also provides a unique opportunity to accelerate our growth and presence in the U.S. as we continue to add market leading capabilities to our global wealth platform.”
FNZ has only recently made a serious assault on the US market in a quest for global domination that began in Wellington in 2003 before making inroads into the UK, European and Asian markets.
While the company initially favoured organic growth, the business embarked on an acquisition bender after new institutional shareholders came on board in 2018.
For instance, the Fondsdepot purchase, finalised last week following an agreement first signed in April 2021, marked the third major German acquisition for FNZ after ebase and DIAMOS.
The multi-purpose wealth management platform now employs over 1,000 staff in Germany alone out of a mind-boggling global workforce of more than 4,500.
FNZ last reported US$1.5 trillion in assets under administration for 650 financial institutions, 8,000 wealth management firms, held on behalf of 20 million investors housed in 21 jurisdictions.