London-based Fundment is an all-in-one tech platform for financial advisers with high-net-worth clients. It has raised £45 million in Series C led by Highland Europe, (which recently invested in 9fin and FINBOURNE Technology). The round saw participation from ETFS Capital.
The investment will be used for product development, scale the team, and future expansion.
Challenges faced by high-net-worth financial advisers
Investment in new fintech technologies has exploded in recent years. Whilst robo advisers and trading apps are democratising investing for retail investors, there are few dedicated tools aimed at financial advisers serving high-net-worth individuals. In the UK alone, £5.5 trillion of assets will be passed down over the next 30 years, whilst globally the number is closer to $68 trillion. At the same time, financial advisers are under tougher cost and regulatory pressures, which is why the global financial planning software market is expected to be worth $18.1 billion in the next 10 years.
With the intention to change this, Fundment builds a modern solution for financial advisers that creates a frictionless experience for their clients.
Next-gen platform to support financial advisers
Fundment was founded in 2018 by experienced asset manager Ola Abdul who was previously with abrdn and BlackRock. It was created to solve the technology challenges financial advisers face every day. Outsourced legacy infrastructure lacks integrations with core applications leading to ongoing difficulties for financial advisers, who are under more pressure than ever to provide bespoke, regulated, and timely services to their client base.
Its technology integrates core platform services, back office tools, discretionary investment management solutions, and user-friendly portals in a one-stop shop for advisers to operate and monitor their investment processes securely. The platform allows firms to utilise tax wrappers and build their own APIs to customise integrations and extensibility. This helps firms scale efficiently with automated processes, whilst adhering to complex regulations which drive significant client value.
Its marketplace platform has access to a range of investments from companies, including Legal & General, BlackRock, and HSBC, including OEICs and Unit Trusts, Investment Trusts, ETFs, and domestic and international equities. This has enabled Fundment to serve a growing customer base of over 500 firms, including everything from sole traders to wealth management companies, as well as double its assets under management year-on-year and reach profitability. It is also working with local authorities and their advisers to provide the public sector with the same modern architecture that the private sector uses.
Ola Abdul, founder and CEO of Fundment, said: “Financial advice is a heavily regulated space and it is difficult for fintech platforms to break through unless they truly understand how to manage and enable operations for their customers. For the past six years, we have been building Fundment as the all-in-one tech platform to support a financial advice firm’s every need so they can dedicate more time to delivering value to customers. We now have over 500 firms relying on Fundment, but we’re still in the early stages of our journey. I’m delighted to have the backing of Highland Europe and look forward to working with the knowledgeable team there as we scale Fundment.”
Gajan Rajanathan, General Partner at Highland Europe, said: “Financial advisers face a growing need for modern technology to scale amidst increasing client sophistication and regulatory pressure. We are thrilled to be backing Ola and the team at Fundment, who have deep domain expertise in asset management and a unique perspective on the software challenges facing independent financial advisers. Fundment offers an easy to use, transparent, modern investment platform providing comprehensive access to a suite of investment options. There will be powerful tailwinds in this market over the coming years and Fundment is in an ideal position to capitalise.”
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