Crossbridge Capital launches Singapore’s first digital advisory platform for accredited investors
Crossbridge Capital, an independent investment advisory firm serving ultra-high net worth families globally, has launched CONNECT by Crossbridge, Singapore’s first digital advisory platform serving accredited investors.
Developed in collaboration with Morningstar, Pershing (a BNY Mellon Company), Julius Baer and Bambu, CONNECT by Crossbridge is an intuitive digital platform offering tailored investment strategies to accredited investors living in Singapore.
Having a US-regulated entity as custodian (Pershing) means that US expatriate investors will also be eligible to invest on the platform, alongside other expatriates and Singaporean investors.
Crossbridge Capital was established in London in 2008 with a focus on client-centred and independent advice, and a commitment to open architecture and overall transparency. The company is regulated in multiple markets with offices in London, Singapore and Monaco and is backed by two of the world’s leading banks as minority investors. Its Singapore office, which has been serving high net worth clients since 2010, is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
“Our vision for CONNECT is to introduce a premium wealth management experience to affluent investors through a convenient and easy-to-use digital advisory platform,” says Tarek Khlat, co-founder and group chief executive officer of Crossbridge Capital. “CONNECT empowers clients to utilise the latest technology to manage their investments in their own time, based on personalised investment goals and without the high fees of traditional operators. History has shown that technology can help people invest smarter. We are bringing together our in-house human investment talent with the latest technology to enhance our service offering to clients and ultimately provide outperformance with lower risk. CONNECT offers personalised investment solutions that are tailored to meet the client’s investment objectives.”
Together with Morningstar, a global investment research firm, Crossbridge Capital has developed for CONNECT a series of actively managed Certificates built around specific risk-return profiles – each with an exposure of up to 12 asset classes. Based on their investment goals, CONNECT clients will be able to efficiently access and manage their investments with a single transaction, and benefit from a professionally structured portfolio that is actively rebalanced to ensure that investments remain aligned with clients’ personal risk preferences.
To get started, investors will need a minimum investment of USD100,000. Interested investors can sign up for an account on www.crossbridgeconnect.com, where they can supply information about themselves and their investment goals and risk preferences, and CONNECT will provide a customised investment profile and portfolio. Users will be able to select tailored portfolios based on their own investment goals and time horizons.
In Singapore, assets will be held in custody with Pershing.
“Since the introduction of new tax reporting regulations in the US, banks and other financial services institutions have been reluctant to serve US expatriates. While CONNECT is designed with all accredited investors in mind, our collaboration with Pershing will allow us to offer US expatriates the same access to the intelligent and intuitive portfolios available on our new platform,” says Charlie O’Flaherty, partner and head of digital strategy & distribution at Crossbridge Capital.
“We believe that CONNECT by Crossbridge is a great step forward in digital wealth management, as it enables us to offer accredited investors access to truly diversified portfolios including exposure to asset classes that were traditionally available only to ultra-high net worth and institutional investors,” adds O’Flaherty. “CONNECT portfolios offer daily liquidity and trade on net asset value (NAV) just like a mutual fund. However, they will not have the high and sometimes opaque fee structures of traditional operators, or the multiple fees associated with less efficient portfolio options currently offered by many digital advisors in other jurisdictions.”
Crossbridge Capital has also partnered with Julius Baer, the Swiss private banking group, which is providing its structuring expertise as the I]issuer of the Certificates. The advisory platform itself was developed by B2B platform provider Bambu.
“Singapore is a globally significant wealth management and financial technology centre with a growing base of affluent investors who are increasingly digitally-inclined,” says Khlat. “We are delighted to be launching CONNECT here.”