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wealth management

European B2B Wealthtech Allfunds Set to List on Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange

Madrid-based Allfunds, a B2B Wealthtech solution provider, will reportedy be listing on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange.

Allfunds has developed a comprehensive ecosystem that aims to cover the complete fund distribution value chain and related investment cycles, including through Allfunds Connect, which is a suite of software-as-a-service or SaaS-powered digital, data and analytics software tools.

Allfunds had more than €1.2 trillion of assets under administration, as of December 2020. The company reports around €370 million in turnover and about €263 million adjusted Ebitda. The group also reports a growth rate of 13% during the last 3 months.

Allfunds has hired BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse Securities, Citigroup Global Markets and Morgan Stanley Europe as its joint bookrunner, for this latest offering, which includes a private placement of 25% of the firm’s outstanding shares that are held by LHC3, BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse.

Although  AllFunds won’t be getting any proceeds from the sale, the firm thinks that the listing could potentially provide access to diversified sources of financing and enhance its profile and general brand awareness.

Juan Alcaraz, founder and CEO of Allfunds, stated:

“We have built an ecosystem that covers the entire fund distribution value chain and investment cycle, integrated into a simple one-stop-shop for our clients. This listing provides us with the flexibility to accelerate the digital transformation of the wealth management industry and the growth of our best-in-class global platform.”

Allfunds may expand it business operations into other regions where it maintains a relatively smaller market presence, including in Asian and North American markets.

Allfunds, which claims to be the largest fund platform and world leader in the wealthtech space, recently launched a new mobile app for its digital eco-system Connect.

As mentioned in a company blog post:

“With the Connect App users will be able to track funds, manage portfolios wherever they are and never miss a critical alert. Users will be able to access information on their funds or adjust their portfolios at any time.”

Some other notable functions include:

  • Search, analyze, compare and monitor, from more than 200,000 funds at ETFs
  • Set-up and “access multiple alerts”
  • Stay “on top of watchlists that track funds”
  • Manage and “maintain control of portfolios accessing performance, risk, asset allocation and transactions”
  • With the Connect mobile app, users “leverage the power of Allfunds to manage funds and portfolios anytime, anywhere.”

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Digital Assets Ecosystem Surpasses $1.5T Market Cap, $60B in BTC held by Public Firms, as First Bitcoin ETF to Launch in Canada

Researchers at Bloqport have confirmed that publicly-traded firms and fund managers now hold approximately $60 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC), which is around 6% of the digital asset’s circulating supply.

The team at Bloqport pointed out that just three years back, in 2018, the founding PayPal CEO Bill Harris had said that Bitcoin is “the biggest scam in history.”

Visa CEO Al Kelly had argued back then that Bitcoin is “speculative” and that they would not be handling BTC transactions. Meanwhile, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon had said that Bitcoin is “a fraud.” But now in 2021, every one of these companies has been “forced to recognize” Bitcoin, Bloqport adds.

While sharing other notable digital asset and blockchain industry developments, the Bloqport team confirmed that the total crypto market had surpassed the $1.5 trillion mark for the first time ever, but the market has retraced significantly at the time of writing.

Notably, Canada’s securities regulator has now approved the launch of the first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), an investment manager revealed this past Friday. The ETF could offer investors improved access to the digital currency that has seen its price surge dramatically from below $4,000 in March 2020 to nearly $50,000 in 2021.

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has cleared the launch of Purpose Bitcoin ETF, according to Toronto’s asset management firm Purpose Investments Inc. The OSC also confirmed that the approval had been made.

Purpose Investments stated:

“The ETF will be the first in the world to invest directly in physically settled Bitcoin, not derivatives, allowing investors easy and efficient access to the emerging asset class of cryptocurrency.”

Crypto investors currently have the option to trade BTC using futures contracts via the CME derivatives exchange. They’re also able to purchase certain closed-end investment funds, like the Bitcoin Fund via the Toronto Stock Exchange.

An ETF might be able to provide certain benefits to traders, like being able to purchase at net asset value instead of paying a premium, according to Arthur Salzer, CEO at Northland Wealth Management.

Salzer added:

“I think the OSC is doing the right thing allowing for an ETF. It gets rid of some of the negatives of the current funds.”

Bitcoin is trading at over $47,000 at the time of writing after recording a high of over $49,500 this past weekend. The flagship cryptocurrency has managed to appreciate around 65% in value in 2021 alone and has surged more than 1,130% since March of last year.

Billionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla recently revealed that it has acquired $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and will make preparations to accept BTC as payment.

The move by Tesla has helped the Bitcoin price significantly as many more investors are planning to gain exposure to the digital asset. As reported, the City of Miami has introduced several Bitcoin focused initiatives, as the pseudonymous crypto has managed to onboard 150 millions users globally according to estimates from a billionaire hedge fund executive.

It’s worth noting that in the US, eight companies have made failed attempts (since 2013) to launch a Bitcoin ETF.

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California based Fintech Wealthfront Adds Additional Automation to “Make Money Movement Effortless”

California-based Fintech firm Wealthfront revealed on February 4, 2021 that its customers will now be able to use their service to monitor for and automatically transfer excess funds to a Wealthfront Roth IRA, Traditional IRA or a 529 College Savings Account.

As noted in a release shared with CI, previously, Wealthfront had been monitoring for excess cash and would automatically transfer the balance to a Wealthfront Taxable Investment Account or a Wealthfront Cash Account. The Fintech company confirmed that it has “quickly expanded” its service to include even more account options.

As mentioned in the update:

“This added automation is another important step in Wealthfront’s ultimate vision to build an ecosystem that optimizes and automates all of their clients’ finances, a vision they call ‘Self-Driving Money.’” 

Clients may use Wealthfront to keep track of or monitor an outside checking account or a Wealthfront Cash Account, and when that account exceeds the client’s “prescribed balance,” the funds are automatically deposited into the Wealthfront account of their choice.

Wealthfront confirmed that they take recurring transfers into account “when looking for excess cash and integrates them seamlessly with clients’ savings strategies.” Clients are able to set up direct deposit for their paychecks, automatically make bill payments and also send out checks on a recurring or regular basis.

Chris Hutchins, Head of Financial Automation at Wealthfront, noted that their vision for Self-Driving Money is “going to be a complete game changer for people’s finances.”

Hutchins remarked:

“We want to completely remove the burden of managing your money so you can focus on your career, your family or whatever is most important to you.”

Wealthfront’s management noted that they will remain focused on implementing various other automation features, such as the option to transfer excess funds to several different accounts simultaneously and “prioritizing accounts based on a client’s individual goals.” In order to open a Wealthfront Cash Account, you may download the Fintech firm’s app on the App Store or Google Play or by visiting the company’s official website.

As previously reported, Wealthfront describes itself as “a nextgen banking service that manages your savings for you using automation.” The Wealthtech firm aims to offer all of the financial services you would need such as “high-interest” checking that provides an ATM/debit card, “low-cost” investment portfolios managed for you, “one-click” loans and “free” advice and planning tools via an easy-to-use mobile app.

Wealthfront recently began implementing “Self-Driving Money” services in order to automate customers’ savings plans so they don’t have to be concerned about monitoring accounts and moving funds around.

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Schroders Wealth Management to Use Banking Software from Temenos to Enhance its Financial Advisory Business

Temenos (SIX: TEMN), a banking software company, has revealed that Schroders Wealth Management in Switzerland has decided to use its solution in order to automate and improve its financial advisory business.

Schroders Wealth Management will reportedly launch the Temenos Wealth Front Office which is described as a portfolio or investment management system. The solution will be deployed on the Temenos Transact core banking platform in order to streamline the capabilities of relationship managers, financial advisers, and portfolio managers.

With Temenos Wealth Front Office, Schroders Wealth Management will be able to standardize its financial advisory services.

The solution will reportedly include various dashboards for relationship managers and portfolio managers, client and investment profiling, investment proposal process, advanced order generation, extensive pre- and post-trade compliance checks, flexible benchmarking and performance reporting.

The solution also offers a wide range of portfolio modeling and rebalancing tools, covering various asset types, in an intuitive or user-friendly manner.

Schroders Wealth Management stated that they have £65.7 billion of assets under management (AUM) from clients based in the UK, Channel Islands, Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Giovanni Leonardo, Head of Investment, Schroders Wealth Management, Switzerland, remarked:

“We chose Temenos Wealth Front Office following a selection process to support our advisory business in Switzerland. The software handles all the complex processes and stringent regulations involved in advisory portfolio management, allowing our relationship managers to focus on the needs of our clients. It also provides the flexibility and efficiency we need in discretionary portfolio management.”

David Macdonald, President of Europe, Temenos, noted that they’re pleased to extend their long-term business relationship with Schroders Wealth Management. As the banking institution continues to grow and expand its line of products and services, the Temenos Wealth Front Office will help to “deliver an enhanced service, greater efficiency and consistent experience for its high and ultra-high net worth clients, leading to greater customer longevity and new business opportunities,” Macdonald added.

As reported recently, Temenos now supports 60 banking challenger clients. Temenos has confirmed that digital banks, such as Alba, Alpian, Banco del Sol, Flowe, FlowBank, Lunar, Next Commercial Bank, Pepper, Varo Bank, and WeLab Bank, have selected the company’s Cloud-native, Cloud-agnostic technology, joining more than 3,000 Temenos customers around the globe.

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