HgCapital, the Manager of HgCapital Trust, has announced an investment in fundinfo AG, which it describes as, “a technology platform for fund data and documents publication and dissemination to the global fund industry, headquartered in Zurich”. The terms of this transaction have not been disclosed. HgCapital Trust plc will invest in fundinfo, alongside other institutional clients of HgCapital, who will participate through the Mercury Fund. The Trust will contribute a total of approximately £3.1m. This acquisition represents the twelfth investment by the Mercury Fund and, following completion, the Fund will be approximately 78% invested.
Based on the 31 October 2016 reported NAV, the Trust says that its liquid resources available for future deployment, including all announced transactions, are estimated to be £40.1m (7% of the pro-forma 31 October 2016 NAV). The Trust also has access to a £40m standby facility, which it says is currently undrawn. The transaction will reduce the Trust’s outstanding commitments to invest in HgCapital deals to approximately £64 million (11% of the pro-forma 31 October 2016 NAV).
HgCapital says that fundinfo, founded in 2005, facilitates the publication & dissemination of fund data and documents between asset managers and distributors of funds (including banks, insurance companies, financial advisers, family offices, fund platforms). HgCapital says that fundinfo has over 500 asset management clients, and a network of over 100 distribution partners across Europe and Asia, which enables fundinfo to make over 19 million documents to be made available to the fund industry in a compliant and visible way. HgCapital says that fundinfo plays a critical role in the successful distribution of retail funds across 15 fund markets and that its partner business, ifund services AG, is a specialist in fund research and is currently rolling out an automated “robo-advice” offering for fund selection.
HgCapital say that its investment in fundinfo will allow the company to continue its expansion into new fund jurisdictions, the further development of fundinfo’s analytics offering, and to support the global roll-out of the “openfunds” format for fund data standardisation, which it says represents a step-change in the way the fund industry manages and exchanges data. fundinfo will join HgCapital’s current network of European headquartered FinTech investments, including Intelliflo (SaaS financial advisor software), Ullink (connectivity and trading software) and Sequel (insurance software and analytics).
HgCapital Trust contributes £3.1m to an investment in fundinfo : HGT