Global financial technology firm FNZ has changed hands in one of the world’s largest FinTech deals this year.
Founded in 2003, FNZ provides the tech platforms used by wealth management companies and counts the likes of Standard Life Aberdeen, Barclays, Lloyds Bank, Vanguard, Generali, Quilter, Santander and Aviva among its customers.
The company is responsible for over £330 billion in assets under management.
Private equity investors HIG and General Atlantic have sold their stakes in FNZ to Generation Investment Management and Canadian pension fund CDPQ.
The deal values the business, which has over 1,400 employees in the UK, Czech Republic, Shanghai, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, at £1.65 billion.
“We started FNZ by asking: how can technology solve the problems faced by consumers of long-term savings products?” said FNZ founder and CEO Adrian Durham.
“We saw investors being charged so much that their retirement income was halved by charges alone.
“They were no better off than a bank deposit, despite taking risk and investing in managed funds for over 30 years. Choice was non-existent and the entire value chain was managed using paper.
“Our approach has entirely digitised the value chain, reducing cost and complexity for financial institutions and consumers alike.”
FNZ was established in New Zealand and expanded to the UK in 2005, initially partnering with Standard Aberdeen and basing its UK operations and technology in Edinburgh.
To accelerate growth, the company partnered in a management buyout with HIG Capital in 2009 and secured investment from General Atlantic in 2012.