In brief

May 6 2021

Temenos Wealth has been selected by Greece’s Eurobank to enhance wealth management and affluent segment services.

Eurobank and Temenos Wealth will collaborate to set up a fully-digital investment portfolio management service.

It will include a robo-advisor as well as goal-based investing apps for HNW and UHNW segments.

Goal-Based Investing will allow Eurobank’s customers to define specific financial goals, view simulation results on how to achieve the goals, and then put the investment plan into action.

Eurobank will initially rollout the robo-advisor service. It will then deploy Temenos Wealth for all investment portfolio services, including execution, advisory and discretionary services, for clients in Greece.

The bank will replace its middle and back-office systems with Temenos Transact, adopting Temenos’ Europe Model Bank approach that incorporates local functionality to accelerate implementation and MiFID compliance purposes.

Eurobank deputy CEO and Group COO Stavros Ioannou said that Temenos’ expertise will enable it to provide new, functional solutions to our customers.

May 6, 2021

BNP Paribas has appointed Sandro Pierri as CEO of its asset management arm, BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNP AM), effective 1 July 2021.

Pierri will be based in Paris and will report to incoming BNP Paribas deputy COO Renaud Dumora, who will oversee the company’s Investment & Protection Services Division that includes the BNP AM.

He succeeds Frédéric Janbon, who is now appointed as special advisor to Dumorato ensure the transition.

BNPP Group CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé said: “I would like to sincerely thank Frédéric Janbon for his overall contribution to the BNP Paribas Group, in which he spent most of his professional career.

“During his tenure at the head of Fixed Income and up until 2014, he successfully built and ran a powerful and recognised fixed income and debt capital market franchise.

“Since 2015, he has refocused and transformed our asset management activities into a fully integrated platform delivering solid investment performance to our clients. Under his leadership, BNP Paribas Asset Management has become a global leader in sustainable investment.”

Dumora remarked that Pierri transformed BNP Paribas AM’s Global Client Group into a client-centric distribution platform to support the growth strategy of the business.

May 6, 2021

McFaddens & Co has expanded its global footprint by launching its multi-family office operations in UAE.

The group provides a suite of investment, wealth management, philanthropic, and lifestyle services. It expects the UAE operations to add more than $300m to its AUM.

The group plans to offer ‘local service, trusted advice and a truly international suite of services’ in UAE, which is said to houses nearly 200 billionaires and over a million HNW individuals.

May 6, 2021

Canadian fintech company Mogo has concluded the acquisition of local saving and investing app Moka Financial Technologies, bringing its total members to about 1.6 million.

The all-stock transaction was first announced by the companies in March this year.

Moka manages $250m in assets and holds registered portfolio management capabilities throughout Canada and in Europe. The deal expands Mogo’s wealth offerings to include saving and investing offerings.

In addition, the acquisition will accelerate Mogo’s plan to roll out a free stock trading solution for Canadians later this year.

This solution is expected to further fortify the fintech’s position as one of the most comprehensive digital wallets in Canada.

Mogo founder and CEO David Feller noted that the deal accelerates the company’s expansion in the $4 trillion wealth management industry in Canada.

May 6, 2021

UBS has partnered with AI-driven knowledge-as-a-service platform Lynk to help its institutional clients to improve the integration of expert access into their investment process.

The partnership comes as factors such as new technology, alternative data, regulatory changes, and the pandemic continues to radically change the investment landscape.

It will provide Swiss investment giant’s research analysts and institutional clients with access to Lynk’s database of 840,000 experts globally.

Lynk’s proprietary technology leverages an AI-driven data engine that indexes industry experts based on their experience and expertise.

The company’s focus on user experience and data is claimed to provide significant advantages to investors by enhancing efficiency in detecting additional investment opportunities or risks.

May 5, 2021

Goldman Sachs Group is planning to bring back its US workers to the office from next month as daily Covid-19 cases continue to decline.

In an internal memo, Goldman CEO David Solomon asked its workers in the US to be prepared to return to their workplace by 14 June. The message was for the employees who are yet to resume work from office.

The memo was also co-signed by COO John Waldron and CFO Stephen Scherr.

The executives were quoted by CNBC as saying in the message: “While each community is at a different stage of managing through the pandemic, we continue to be encouraged by the rollout of vaccines in a number of jurisdictions, as well as by the effectiveness of the health and safety protocols we have put in place across Goldman Sachs campuses to protect our people.

“We know from experience that our culture of collaboration, innovation and apprenticeship thrives when our people come together, and we look forward to having more of our colleagues back in the office so that they can experience that once again on a regular basis.”

Separately, Reuters reported that the investment bank also intends to call its UK-based staff to offices by mid-July.

Goldman Sachs has around 40,000 employees around the world.

May 4, 2021

Canadian robo-adviser Wealthsimple has raised $610m (C$750m) in a funding round led by Meritech and Greylock who were joined by star power.

The new financing round takes the robo-adviser’s valuation to $4bn (C$5bn).

DST Global, Sagard, Iconiq, Dragoneer, TCV, iNovia, Allianz X, Base 10, Redpoint, STEADFAST, Alkeon, TSV, Plus Capital also joined the fundraising.

Also participating were actors Ryan Reynolds and Michael Fox, NBA players Kelly Olynyk and Dwight Powell, NHL athlete Patrick Marleau as well as rapper Drake.

As part of the deal, Meritech general partner Max Motschwiller became part of the Wealthsimple board.

Wealthsimple plans to further build out its product offering, strengthen its team as well as expand its market position with the fresh infusion.

Motschwiller noted: “Wealthsimple has been able to capture a generation of financial consumers in Canada with financial products that are markedly different than anything offered by the incumbents — simpler, more human, and built with the kind of technology that delivers an experience consumers want.”

May 4, 2021

Australian lender Westpac has reportedly hired Morgan Stanley to advise the bank on the sale of its wealth management businesses.

Westpac’s wealth unit includes superannuation, investment platforms for advised clients, multi-fund asset management and a range of direct products for SMSFs and individuals.

Investment bankers at Morgan Stanley’s Australian unit have already started working with Westpac’s internal deal team on their exit options, according to a report by Street Talk.

The team is also analysing potential buyers for the businesses.

Westpac head of corporate development Adam Penny, formerly a senior Bank of America dealmaker, is leading the talks.

The unit is expected to attract global private equity investors as well as financial institutions in Australia eyeing to bolster their operations in the country.

The asset for the sale includes Westpac’s Panorama platform, which enables financial advisers and investors to manage investment portfolios.

May 3, 2021

Ping An Insurance Group has agreed to buy a majority stake in the newly-established Founder Group, the Chinese Partner of Credit Suisse.

The insurer said it will acquire 51.1% to 70% equity interest in the Shanghai-listed broker. The deal is estimated to value between $5.72bn (RMB37.05bn) to $7.9bn (RMB50.75bn).

Peking University Founder Group holds about 28% stake in the new Founder Group whose assets include Founder Securities, Founder Technology Group and China Hi-Tech Group.

Peking University Founder Group started its court-led restructuring proceedings early last year. The company has defaulted $3bn of dollar bonds and RMB34.5bn of onshore bonds, according to a report by Bloomberg.

This January, Ping An Insurance was brought in as one of the investors whilst the restructuring plans of the Founder Group.

A team from Ping An has been carrying out due diligence on Founder Securities, people familiar with the matter told the publication.

The insurer is considering merging Founder Securities with its securities arm, Ping An Securities, the sources added.

May 30, 2021

San Francisco-based wealth and investment management firm Bailard has partnered with enterprise digital vault solutions provider FutureVault to unveil Bailard Vault.

The vault consists of a custom white-label portal and native mobile app on Android and iOS that offers secure access to documents for Bailard clients and the investment counsellors of the firm.

The move is part of the company’s goal to provide high-touch client service.

Bailard Wealth Management president Michael Faust said: “Partnering with FutureVault enables us to streamline and automate several key internal processes. From seamless client onboarding to prompt ongoing reporting, we can now provide crucial information faster and in a secure environment.

Bailard portfolio associate Austin Lastinger added: “We believe our clients’ success is our success, and are proud to offer a centralised, digital environment to access important materials and interact securely with us.”

FutureVault develops cloud-based document management solutions that enables organisations to manage their information better.

The company’s digital vault platform allows firms to manage document distribution and collaboration. It also enables end clients to digitise, deposit, store, and manage their information.