Frankfurt am Main / Hamburg, July 20 2020

Universal-Investment acquires B2B online investment platform CAPinside / development of a “single stop sales platform”

The Universal-Investment Group has acquired CAPinside GmbH, becoming its majority shareholder as of 17 July 2020. CAPinside was formed in October 2018 and employs around 40 staff at its head office in Hamburg. CAPinside is an independent B2B online investment platform for the investment market, focussing on fund marketing and sales initiation. It networks intermediaries, in particular IFAs, with asset managers and fund initiators and brings them together on the basis of algorithms generated using artificial intelligence, via high quality content and investment analyses as well as data-driven bespoke matching. With around 90,000 users per month and almost 20,000 members, CAPinside is the fastest growing professional online investment platform in the German-speaking region and market leader in Germany. At present, CAPinside is further diversifying its spectrum with future-orientated investment managers offering Blockchain-based investments.

Universal-Investment and CAPinside are united in the idea of a platform which allows investors and fund managers to connect easily and according to their needs. Both the fund initiators and asset managers working with Universal-Investment, as well as the clients and members of CAPinside, benefit from the opportunities presented by the takeover. In terms of platform economics, the broader and more diverse the fund initiators’ platform offering, the more attractive it becomes for IFAs and investors as users. New digital cooperation opportunities arise as a result.

Fund initiators benefit from the advancement to a comprehensive sales platform

“With CAPinside, Universal-Investment is further diversifying its distribution portfolio for fund initiators and managers. Over the coming months, we will also be investing heavily to offer our fund initiators pinpointed distribution and cooperation possibilities; in this way, promising fund concepts will be able reach a wide range of investor groups,” says Katja Müller, Chief Customer Officer at Universal-Investment.

The acquisition is a key digital building block in Universal-Investment’s strategy to support fund initiators across all asset classes with the broadest possible sales offering. A comprehensive, analogue and technological “single stop distribution platform” will be created across all channels for every target group. Following the successful takeover of labs, the IT data specialist and vendor of front office solutions for asset managers, in early 2019, the transaction constitutes another important milestone for the Universal-Investment Group in strategically enhancing its service portfolio as a springboard for further growth with its clients, and thereby achieving its aspired goal of becoming the leading European fund service platform and management company for all asset classes by 2023.

CAPinside offers a digital, artificial intelligence-based B2B portfolio for networking intermediaries such as IFAs with asset managers and fund initiators

The takeover is an important building block for Universal-Investment for offering fund initiators a wider range of distribution options for all customer groups and asset classes

Michael Reinhard, CEO of Universal-Investment, explains: “Being able to reach investors online with digital formats and offerings, and with pinpoint accuracy, is becoming increasingly existential in the fund industry, too. Asset managers and fund initiators are shifting unambiguously to distribution channels based on online platform offerings – with irrefutable benefits: precise segmentation of target groups and needs, measurability, 24/7 accessibility and lower costs. CAPinside is therefore a key building block in the context of our digitalisation and innovation offensive, and we are delighted to be jointly setting new standards for our customers.“

Philipp Schröder, founder and CEO of CAPinside says: “CAPinside is an example of how, even in corona times, intelligent, digital business models can grow significantly in less than two years, thereby generating added value for clients, users and fintech investors. Universal-Investment’s takeover allows us to make further investments to drive our expansive growth and benefit from the international fund service platform’s experience. What is important here is that CAPinside will continue to be an open platform for all asset managers.“

Besides the founders Philipp Schröder and Achim Denkel, a third managing director, Micha Grüber, will also remain in charge of the economically successful company; all three will retain holdings in the business. CAPinside will continue to operate as an independent brand on the market. Dr. Jürgen Sehnert, Head of Strategy and Product Governance at Universal-Investment, will be appointed as an additional managing director to support the joint growth plans. All parties have agreed not to disclose the terms of the acquisition.

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ABOUT CAPINSIDE

CAPinside connects investors and asset managers in the digital age. With almost 20,000 B2B members, CAPinside is the fastest growing B2B online investment platform for exchanging investment information in the German-speaking region. CAPinside combines editorial content with machine-learning technology to resolve the matching crisis in the European investment market. The Hamburg-based fintech creates access to relevant, tailor-made content as well as suitable and innovative products – across all investment classes. With this, CAPinside aims to assist investors and intermediaries in expediting better investment decisions – thereby contributing to a new and positive investment culture.

Further information is available at: www.capinside.com