Alt Investments

iCapital Acquires Bank Of Singapore's Private Market Fund Platform

Tom Burroughes Group Editor 2 March 2022

iCapital Acquires Bank Of Singapore's Private Market Fund Platform

The firm has acquired the management and operation of the bank’s private market feeder funds, while Bank of Singapore has retained client serving responsibilities. The deal follows a period of cooperation between the firms.

iCapital, the New York-based fintech platform for alternative investments, has bought Bank of Singapore’s in-house private market feeder fund platform, expanding the size of assets it services to around $114 billion. More than $27 billion of that figure is from non-US domestic clients.

The financial terms of the transaction, which was completed on 28 February, were not disclosed.

Following the deal, iCapital is taking over the management and operation of the bank’s private market feeder funds while Bank of Singapore will retain client servicing responsibilities, iCapital said in a statement. 

This deal is yet another transaction for iCapital, which has partnered with a range of banks, wealth managers and organisations across the financial industry. (See examples here and here.) Its ascent is an example of the rise of alternative assets such as private equity and credit, and the need for more access points into the space.

The firms have been working together for some time. Bank of Singapore previously brought in iCapital to build out a technology and feeder fund solution to offer the bank’s advisors a platform for selecting private market investments which they could put in client portfolios.

“This transaction is the culmination of a highly collaborative relationship with iCapital,” Leong Guan Lim, global head of products at Bank of Singapore, said.

Bank of Singapore will continue to source and monitor private market investments for its clients and advise them on private market investments. iCapital will become the provider of custom private market funds for the bank’s high net worth clients.

As part of the transaction, the bank’s wealth managers also gain access to AltsEdge, the educational platform sponsored by the iCapital Foundation and CAIA, designed to help wealth managers have a better understanding of alternative investments and how they can leverage them to improve client outcomes. The programme consists of ten guided modules covering the private markets, various types of strategies and product structures and portfolio construction.

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