Alternative investment FinTech iCapital Network is celebrating reaching a series of milestones in its expansion into the European and Asian markets.
The WealthTech platform is created to drive access and efficiency in alternative investing for the asset and wealth management industries.
The growth across the European and Asian markets comes hot on the heels of iCapital Network growing rapidly across the US market over the past 18 months, enabling it to reach approximately $65bn in client assets.
iCapital currently has $8bn from non-US investors, arguably making it one of the largest alternative investment platforms outside the US.
The technology firm said its portfolio allocations to alternative investments such as private equity, private credit, hedge funds, and real estate among non-US-based investors have grown significantly in recent years with projected global allocations growing by 8% annually from 2019 to 20244.
To further this growth, iCapital said it had recruited two notable industry insiders as senior executives to lead iCapital’s international growth strategy and announced plans to open new European and Asian offices.
“iCapital’s latest international investments demonstrate our commitment to bringing the opportunities of private investments to international advisors and investors and fulfilling our mission of powering the global alternative investing ecosystem,” said Lawrence Calcano, chairman and CEO of iCapital Network. “As appetite for private market investing continues to grow, our expanding team will deliver these strategies – powered by a robust technical infrastructure – to advisors and their clients across the globe.”
The first of the two new hires is named Marco Bizzozero who will join iCapital on December 1 as head of international and a member of the iCapital’s executive committee. He will report directly to Calcano and will spearhead iCapital’s expansion into the European and Asian markets.
Bizzozero has clocked up more than 25 years of international experience in the financial industry and an impressive list of accomplishments in senior executive positions in global wealth management and private equity organizations. He joins iCapital from UniCredit where he was CEO of group wealth management and member of the group executive management committee.
“iCapital has rapidly established itself as the leading wealth tech firm and partner of choice for clients in the asset and wealth management industry seeking to increase and facilitate access to private market investments for their HNW clients,” he said. “We see enormous growth opportunities in the European and Asian markets and I very much look forward to joining the iCapital team and leading the firm’s global expansion.”
The second hire, Tom Slocock, will be based in London and will take up the mantle of managing director and head of international product development and origination. He will report to Bizzozero. He previously worked at Deutsche Bank.
“We are delighted to welcome Marco and Tom to help lead the charge on building our global alternative investments marketplace,” said Calcano. “Our clients’ success requires a world-class team that can help them scale their businesses and bring this historically hard-to-access asset class to a broader range of investors. These professionals share our unwavering commitment to bringing superior access and efficiency to the private market investing experience, with more than 50 years of collective expertise and a breadth of relationships across the international marketplace.”
iCapital also celebrated the recent acquisition of Portugal-based product development team Runtime Group and its 65-person technology team. The team will join iCapital’s existing team of engineers, developers, and designers dedicated to the ongoing technological innovation of iCapital’s offerings. The transaction is expected to close in the final quarter of 2020.
“This is an exciting moment in iCapital’s trajectory, and we stand ready with the expertise, relationships, exceptional technology, and customized solutions to meet the needs of rapidly evolving international markets,” said Calcano.
“The asset and wealth management industries have embraced the opportunities an automated and transparent approach to alternatives can offer. We are building a future where all parties across the globe benefit from the establishment of a robust, transparent, and highly efficient marketplace.”
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