iCapital has acquired Citi Wealth’s global alternative investment fund platform, as the fintech firm doubles down on its role in the private wealth boom.
iCapital will manage and operate the platform, which includes more than 180 fund vehicles spanning private equity, growth equity, private credit, venture capital and hedge funds.
“We’ve been working with Citi for the past three years, assisting them in scaling their business,” said iCapital CEO Lawrence Calcano in an interview with PitchBook
“About a year ago, they began assessing what to keep in house versus what to outsource. That evolved from a pure tech relationship into selling the platform to us, so we could expand their technology globally and support distribution across the wealth channel.”
The transaction includes three components: iCapital will acquire the global platform, provide technology to support Citi’s distribution of these funds, and support the education of investors within the channel.
Calcano said Citi will retain investment autonomy, including manager and product selection, while iCapital will support the creation of investment vehicles and feeder funds for Citi clients.
He declined to say if there were other bidders for the unit. The deal value was not disclosed, but Calcano said iCapital paid for the deal with cash from its balance sheet.
According to InvestmentNews, the deal comes as other major wealth managers—including UBS, Bank of America and Wells Fargo—have been offloading platform operations.
In August 2022, iCapital acquired the feeder fund platform from UBS, which managed over $7 billion in client assets at the time.
For its part, Citi, under the leadership of CEO Jane Fraser, has been offloading non-core assets in a quest to simplify the bank’s operations.
Based in New York, iCapital now oversees more than $880 billion in platform assets, including $220 billion in alternatives.
Featured image by Jacobs Stock Photography Ltd/Getty Images
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