Strategy & Practice Management

FNZ and State Street announce Joint Venture

FNZ, the global WealthTech solutions provider, and State Street, a global asset management firm, have announced their strategic collaboration to launch a new wealth management operation.

In the new collaboration, FNZ will reportedly gain a majority shareholding in State Street’s Wealth Manager Services business, according to an article by Private Banker International, leaving State Street with a minority stake.

The deal is awaiting regulatory approval, with the exact financial details remaining undisclosed.

Adrian Durham, CEO, FNZ Group, said: “This is the first step in a long-term strategy to expand our platform into the North American market.”

“In the US, we see similar long-term drivers in relation to cost, transparency, digitalisation and personalisation in asset and wealth management as other markets in which we operate,” Durham continued.

The new venture is said to combine FNZ international platform, which caters to around 8,000 financial service and wealth management firms across Europe, Asia-Pacific and the UK, with State Street’s custody capabilities; for Wealth Management Service clients, State Street will reportedly act as the sub-custodian.

The new venture will be led by Lee Jones, Senior Vice President for State Street, who said: “We will benefit from a significant investment in technology and people in order to expedite our growth strategy, and we are excited about the future.”

The new joint venture will go towards increasing FNZ’s assets under administration, which currently reportedly sits at over USD700 billion across 14 markets globally, with a headcount nearing the 3,000 mark.

State Street’s assets under management is said to be nearing USD2.7 trillion, as of March 2020, with employee numbers sitting around 39,000.

This collaboration comes close on the heels of FNZ’s investment from Temasek, a Singapore-headquartered global investment firm. The amount invested was not disclosed.

“Temasek’s investment in FNZ adds a further high-profile investor and will enhance our reach into Asian markets. We look forward to exploring opportunities to work together to broaden our customer base in Asia and beyond,” said Durham of the investment.