Singapore digital wealth startup Endowus buys Carret Private
By Yoolim Lee
(Bloomberg) — Digital wealth platform Endowus Pte acquired a majority stake in an independent wealth manager in Hong Kong as the Singaporean company builds out its business beyond the city-state.
The deal to buy more than 60% of Carret Private Investments Asia Ltd. brings together Endowus’s digital wealth technology with Carret Private’s ultra-high-net-worth customers across Asia. Together, they will serve tens of thousands of clients with assets of more than US$4 (S$5.7) billion, said the firms’ executives, who didn’t disclose terms.
“This is one of the first times a fintech startup has gone and bought a traditional player in the space,” Gregory Van, chief executive officer of Endowus, said in a joint interview with Chairman Samuel Rhee and Carret Private Managing Partner Kenneth Ho.
The acquisition underscores Endowus’s ambition to cater to the growing number of affluent Asians seeking independent wealth advice using digital technology.
“The independent wealth management business is at a very nascent stage in Asia,” with private banks dominating the industry, said Rhee, a former CEO of Morgan Stanley Investment Management in Asia who also serves as chief investment officer at Endowus. “There is a tremendous upside to scale into one of the largest independent wealth managers for the ultra-high-net-worth segment in Asia.”
Endowus, which has raised S$67 million ($47 million) in funding from investors including UBS AG, EDBI, Prosus Ventures and Samsung Ventures, has been looking to gain a foothold in Hong Kong. For Ho, a veteran banker who leads Carret Private, it was the strategically right fit.
“We needed to get into the new age,” Ho said. “But Endowus is much more than a digital company. It’s got an extremely strong investment team, led by Sam as the CIO.”
Endowus helps investors in Singapore access their financial portfolio across cash savings, pension and retirement plans. The total amount of assets Endowus is offering advice on reached more than S$2 billion in August.
Endowus and Carret Private will continue to operate under their own brands. Carret Private has a minority shareholding in Singapore-based Lumen Capital Investors Pte, a multi-family office that was founded by Wilfried Kofmehl, a former CEO of Bank Julius Baer Singapore.
© 2022 Bloomberg L.P.
