The latest news in investment offerings, financial products and other services relative to wealth advisors and their clients.

Schroders Greencoat
Schroders Greencoat – part of Schroders Capital – has just received regulatory approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to launch a Global Energy Infrastructure Long-Term Asset Fund (LTAF), expanding Schroders Capital’s range of LTAFs available to the UK wealth market. 

The launch will mark a milestone as the UK’s first energy transition infrastructure-focused LTAF available to wealth clients, responding to a growing demand for climate solutions, the firm said in a statement.

The new LTAF will be a feeder fund into the Schroders Capital Semi-Liquid Energy Transition Fund, launched a year ago. The latter has a global investment remit and exposure to over 160 individual assets spanning large scale wind farms, solar parks and other infrastructure supporting the energy transition, such as green hydrogen, battery storage, district and industrial heating.

The LTAF will aim to give UK wealth clients exposure to assets that seek to deliver genuine diversification within their portfolio through access to this fast-growing and essential sector.

This launch will build on Schroders Greencoat’s existing suite of products, which offer a range of investors access to its investment capabilities through its investment trusts, DC and wealth LTAFs, semi-liquid and closed-ended funds.

More broadly, the fund will build on Schroders Capital’s track record of providing innovative products focused on client needs. It follows the launch of the Schroders Capital Global Private Equity LTAF last year, the firm’s first UK Wealth market focused LTAF.

“Current market conditions present a favourable entry point for energy transition infrastructure investments and we’re seeing a wider set of investors wanting access to these opportunities,” Phil Middleton, head of UK Client Group, Schroders, said.

“This launch will provide UK wealth investors access to critical renewables such as wind and solar assets, as well as newer parts of the market like green hydrogen, where Schroders Greencoat has been actively pursuing opportunities, now financing around a third of projects initially approved through the UK’s green hydrogen programme,” Duncan Hale, portfolio manager, Schroders Greencoat, added.

“While real assets such as renewables are typically considered illiquid, our semi-liquid and LTAF funds strike a balance by providing regular and transparent access to liquidity, meeting the needs of the UK wealth investor base for flexibility,” Hale said.

Schroders Greencoat is a large specialist renewable and energy transition infrastructure managers globally with a presence in the UK, Europe, the US and Asia and about £9.3 billion assets under management.

William Blair Investment Management
William Blair Investment Management (WBIM) has just launched a William Blair Emerging Markets Frontier Debt SICAV fund.

It will be co-managed by portfolio managers Yvette Babb and Daniel Wood, under Marcelo Assalin, head of emerging markets debt. The fund is part of the WBIM's dedication to delivering specialised products with attractive return potential in markets with a growing opportunity set, the firm said in a statement. The fund will invest in a combination of local currency and hard currency denominated government debt from frontier markets countries across Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Frontier markets offer debt investors valuable opportunities to diversify their portfolios in a way that is typically less correlated to performance of other markets and asset classes. It offers exposure to a diverse and growing range of investable countries, currencies, and corporate issuers, the firm added. As an under-researched and under-invested asset class, it serves as an alpha-generating opportunity for active managers seeking to take advantage of its risk-return characteristics.

Aviva Investors
Aviva Investors, an asset management business of the Aviva Group, has just made a £15 million ($19 million) investment with Cambridge Innovation Capital, a venture capital firm which specialises in early-stage life sciences and deep tech companies in Cambridge.

The investment has been made by the Aviva Investors Venture & Growth Capital LTAF, which aims to give defined contribution pension funds and wealth markets better access to innovative growth companies.

The commitment from Aviva Investors anchors CIC’s Opportunity Fund, which has already made its first two investments into Pragmatic and Riverlane, the firm said in a statement. Pragmatic is a "world leader" in semiconductor innovation and one of the UK’s largest chip designers and manufacturers. Riverlane specialises in the complexities of quantum error correction paving the way to make quantum computing useful, sooner.

Since its inception in 2013, CIC has raised £600 million and invested in more than 40 innovative and world-leading companies, helping to accelerate their growth.

Aviva Investors’ commitment to the CIC Opportunity Fund aligns with UK government plans to deliver the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor, furthering the region’s ambition to be a world-leading life science, tech and innovation cluster.

Firenze, Monument Bank
Firenze, a fast-growing fintech offering Lombard lending to wealth managers, has formed a partnership with Monument Bank, the UK’s first challenger bank dedicated to the mass-affluent segment.

Monument has committed a £160 million ($203 million) funding line to Firenze, empowering the fintech to scale its Lombard loan offering for wealth management firms while reinforcing Monument’s position as a leading provider of tailored financial solutions to its target market.

This is the first proposition that broadens access to Lombard lending, democratising what has typically been available only in private banks, the firm said in a statement.

Working in partnership, Monument and Firenze, advised by CMS and Addleshaw Goddard respectively, have structured the transaction to meet the evolving needs of clients. Both parties anticipate that the initial £160 million facility is just the beginning of a long-term collaboration that will scale further over time. 

The partnership will enable Firenze to expand its Lombard loan offering to a broader segment of wealth management clients. Historically, Lombard loans were largely restricted to private banking clients. However, as private banks continue to raise their minimum wealth thresholds and more advisors transition to independent models, access to these loans has become increasingly constrained, the firm continued.

Firenze’s innovative solution has already gained traction, with a growing base of wealth managers integrating it into their offerings, the firm added. The company is currently working with wealth managers and investment platforms overseeing more than £50 billion in assets.

Lombard loans, secured against liquid investment assets such as equities, bonds, funds, or commodities, offer a more streamlined application process compared with traditional lending products. Their flexibility makes them an attractive option for clients seeking to access liquidity without liquidating investments, thereby avoiding capital gains tax liabilities or disrupting long-term financial strategies. Given their highly liquid collateral, Lombard loans also offer competitive interest rates and substantial borrowing capacity relative to portfolio value, the firm said. According to Deloitte, the global Lombard lending market currently stands at $4.3 trillion and is expanding at a rate of 5 to 10 per cent per year. See more commentary about Monument here.