Abrdn snaps up retail investing platform Finimize in second digital acquisition
Abrdn, formerly Standard Life Aberdeen, has acquired retail investing content platform Finimize for an undisclosed sum, in its second major digital investment this year.
It’s a move that reinforces CEO Stephen Bird’s focus on bolstering the asset manager’s digital capabilities for its personal and institutional investors, and comes just two months after it acquired AI firm Exo so that it could offer wealth management via an app.
Bird said Finimize’s “vision to empower smarter investors” is a “perfect fit” for abrdn.
“The acquisition of Finimize by abrdn further supports our strategic ambition to deliver client-led growth through enabling our clients to be better investors,” he added.
While abrdn will benefit from the platform’s technology, content, and retail investor insights, for Finimize, teaming up with one of the UK’s largest asset managers will mean it can scale much more rapidly.
Finimize is a content platform, backed by London’s Passion Capital, that provides investing tips to a community of retail investors and has 1m subscribers to its daily newsletter.
It also has around 40,000 premium subscribers, who pay £60 a year to access more exclusive content, community discussion and events with high profile investors.
Its CEO Max Rofagha – who also founded an ecommerce startup before Finimize – will join abrdn’s leadership team.
Abrdn said Rofagha’s “entrepreneurial acumen” would “help accelerate a culture of innovation” at the asset manager.
“There’s been huge amounts of innovation in the brokerage space, but very little when it comes to information,” Rofagha said.
“We’re excited to be at the forefront of changing this with the backing of a major financial institution that shares our vision.”
Formerly known as Standard Life Aberdeen, the asset manager changed its name to abrdn at the beginning of July, in a rebrand that Bird said would provide “clarity” and make it “better-positioned to have impact at scale as a global business”.
Abrdn was advised by Goldman Sachs, Macfarlanes, and PWC on the deal, and Finimize was advised by Orrick.