iCapital Network, a financial technology platform that helps advisors and asset managers access alternative investments, has moved to beef up its platform with the planned acquisition of Axio Financial, a company that provides financial advisors with support in evaluating, selecting and purchasing structured notes for their clients’ investment portfolios.
The firms made the announcement today. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter, pending regulatory approvals. The terms were not disclosed.
The acquisition will expand iCapital’s menu of alternative investment strategies, and also help it build its technology stack, educational offerings, and support services for financial advisors, the announcement said.
iCapital serves more than $86 billion in global client assets.
Barron’s, quoting Structured Products Weekly of Prospect News, said $72 billion in structured notes were issued in the United States in 2020, an increase of 36% over the previous year. Axio is expected to exceed $9 billion in issuances in 2021, said the company in the press release about the acquisition.
Axio was founded in 2010. It’s based in New York and has offices in Delray Beach, Fla., and Toronto. The company uses real-time data, analytics and reporting interfaces for the life cycle of a structured note, the press release said.
iCapital will be joined by Marc Paley, the CEO of Axio, and a team of about 80 employees. Paley will serve as managing director, head of distribution, and report to Lawrence Calcano, iCapital’s chairman and CEO. Paley will maintain his responsibilities as leader of the Axio team, the release noted.
Calcano said, “iCapital is committed to being the single, comprehensive source for financial advisors seeking alternative investment opportunities to optimize portfolio performance. Advisors considering structured notes for their high-net-worth clients need best-in-class access, education, consultative support and enabling technology such as iCapital provides for other alternative offerings,” he said.
The New York-based iCapital has been expanding its educational offerings on its alternative investment platform to serve wealth advisors and their clients. Just last week, it partnered with Grayscale Investments to provide advisors access to digital currency investing, and earlier this year the company completed its acquisition of AI Insight to bolster its alternative investments education and compliance offerings for financial advisors.
In February, iCapital partnered with the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association to launch AltsEdge, an education initiative designed to help advisors better understand alternative investments and how they can use these products to improve client outcomes.