The latest chapter of the love fest between a New York-based fintech and a Swiss banking giant involves an alt platform worth $7 billion in client assets changing hands.
Officials from iCapital and UBS on Tuesday announced that the two entities have entered an agreement in which iCapital will acquire UBS Fund Advisor, UBS's legacy U.S. alternative investment manager and feeder fund platform. The deal comes as high net worth investors increase the dollars they're putting into alternative investments, which include hedge funds, private equity funds, real estate, cryptocurrencies and other assets that aren't stocks or bonds.
The multi-billion dollar platform, known as "AlphaKeys Funds," includes private equity, hedge fund and real estate feeder funds. Officials said that once the deal closes, UBS advisors will continue to serve their high and ultrahigh net worth clients that hold feeder funds as usual.
The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2022. Terms of the agreement have not been made public.
"iCapital has a long-standing global relationship with UBS through which we utilize our market-leading technology to facilitate the management of their direct and feeder funds on a single platform and offer their advisors the tools they need to be successful," Lawrence Calcano, the chairman and CEO of iCapital, said in a statement. "We are thrilled to expand that relationship to include management of UBS Fund Advisor and the feeder fund platform."
Jerry Pascucci, the global co-head of alternative investment solutions at UBS, said deal underscores the importance of having partners like iCapital in their corner. The bank's connection to iCapital dates back to 2017, when UBS became an investor in iCapital and entered into a strategic relationship with the firm to structure new feeder funds for UBS to distribute to its clients?
At that time, UBS pulled iCapital's proprietary technology into its private fund operations to streamline and automate its alternative investment offerings. The two sides bolstered the partnership in 2021 to further digitize the UBS advisor experience, improving the information and analytics of clients' private market investments across its international locations.
"iCapital is uniquely qualified to manage the on-going operations of this platform and service our clients' existing investments, enabling us to help our financial advisors focus on what's important," Pascucci said. "Providing personalized advice and solutions to their clients."
In March, iCapital, UBS and Envestnet said they
According to an iCapital and Boston Consulting Group study
In early August, iCapital announced that it had completed its acquisition of
Under the agreement, SIMON CEO Jason Broder will join iCapital as head of iCapital Solutions and become a member of the operating committee. In this capacity, he will oversee the combined platform's integration, market development and sales of iCapital's full suite of technology offerings.
"We have long-admired iCapital and everything it has accomplished in the alternative investing space," Broder said in a statement. "After a highly collaborative exploratory process over recent months, it became abundantly clear that together we can create an unrivaled experience for our clients and set the stage for iCapital's continued expansion of investment opportunities and support services for advisors.
"Together we're delivering something the wealth management industry has wanted for a very long time. Access to all alternative solutions under one, centralized platform."
