UK-headquartered, ultra-high-net-worth wealth manager Crossbridge Capital is to launch a digital advisory platform for accredited investors in Singapore, in association with Pershing and Bambu.
Crossbridge, which was founded in 2008 by Tarek Khlat and Jean-Pierre Aoun, provides financial services to high-net-worth individuals, families, business owners and mid-sized institutions based in emerging market countries.
The company said it expects to launch the new platform later this year in Singapore, where it would be the first platform of its kind for accredited investors in that market. Singapore will then serve as a hub for the platform’s expansion in the region, Crossbridge said.
Crossbridge uses the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s definition of “accredited investors” as being those whose net personal assets exceed S$2m (£1.1m, US$1.5m), or whose income in the preceding 12 months is not less than S$300,000 (£168.5m,US$220,000).
In a statement, Crossbridge said the new platform would “enable users to take control of their investments, and seamlessly access and manage tailored products chosen to match their investment profile and objectives”.
Added Crossbridge co-founder and group chief executive Khlat: “History has shown that technology can help people invest smarter. We are bringing together the human investment talent that we have in-house with the latest technology to enhance our service offering to clients and ultimately provide outperformance with lower risk.”
Able to accommodate American expats
Because the new Crossbridge Capital platform will see clients’ assets and funds being cleared and held with Pershing, which is a US-regulated entity, clients with US tax-reporting obligations, such as expatriate Americans, will be able to make use of it, in addition to accredited expatriates of other nationalities as well as Singaporean investors.
This is seen by Crossbridge executives as a potentially important advantage, since Americans are often unwelcome at other wealth management companies because of the tax information reporting obligations that are required of non-US financial services businesses that have them as clients.
Crossbridge Capital operates in a number of emerging markets – from Istanbul to Ulan Bator and Moscow to Dodoma – supported by teams located in London, Singapore, Malta, and, as reported here in April, Monaco. It has approximately US$3bn under “supervision”, according to the company.
Minority shareholders in Crossbridge Capital include Julius Baer and Banque Audi (Suisse).
Pershing is a US-based BNY Mellon subsidiary, which began as a trade execution and clearance services business, and is now a global financial services business services provider. Bambu is a Singapore-based, B2B platform services provider/”robo adviser”.
