iCapital Network to Buy Wells Fargo Alternative Investments Feeder Fund Platform
iCapital Network, a financial technology focused on alternative investing for the asset and wealth management industries, has agreed to purchase the alternative investments feeder fund platform from Wells Fargo’s (NYSE: WFC) Global Alternative Investments division.
iCapital Network, a financial technology focused on alternative investing for the asset and wealth management industries, has agreed to purchase the alternative investments feeder fund platform from Wells Fargo’s (NYSE: WFC) Global Alternative Investments division (GAI). As a part of the transaction, Wells Fargo is making an investment in iCapital under the terms of iCapital’s latest fundraising round.
The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2020. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Wells Fargo’s alternative investment feeder fund platform supports various alternative investments, including private equity, private debt, hedge funds, private real estate and direct private investments across approximately 70 investment vehicles.
Last month, iCapital announced its plans to buy the Artivest platform and operating businesses. Upon completion of both transactions, iCapital’s platform will service nearly $58 billion in client assets across more than 720 funds, 120,000 underlying accounts, and more than 70 white label partners.
“We are enormously excited to forge this partnership with Wells Fargo as another important milestone on our mission to create the industry standard technology solution for private investments,” said Lawrence Calcano, chairman and chief executive officer of iCapital Network. “This agreement is emblematic of the great strides we have made to provide greater access, efficiency and transparency for the wealth management community seeking alternative investing strategies for their high-net-worth clients.”
As part of the transaction, iCapital will offer employment to a team of Wells Fargo employees who currently support operations for the GAI feeder fund platform. The transitioning team will continue to support the fund portfolio.
Earlier this year iCapital announced the close of a $146 million capital raise to support its future growth. As a part of the transaction, Wells Fargo will be the latest investor to join the consortium of wealth and asset managers invested in iCapital. Wells Fargo joins Ping An Global Voyager Fund, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE: AMG), Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ: HLNE) and WestCap as new investors.
Additional existing strategic partners and investors in iCapital include BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), Blackstone (NYSE: BX), BNY Mellon (NYSE: BK), The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG), Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM), Morgan Stanley Investment Management (NYSE: MS) and UBS Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: UBS).
iCapital’s platform supports the subscription, administration, and reporting processes for private equity, private credit, hedge funds, and other alternative investments. As of April 30, 2020, iCapital serviced more than $51 billion in client assets across more than 100,000 underlying accounts.
