Demand for unlisted investments, coupled with Asia's growing mass affluent population, is bringing more private investment platform solutions online.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB) has chosen UK wealthtech Delio to provide expanded digital services and a new private markets platform for HNW clients.

The partnership, which both parties anticipate as “long term,” is being propelled by sizable growth in Asia’s mass affluent and HNW populations and demand across markets for greater access to unlisted investments.

Industry analysts anticipate that Asia is hot on the heels of trends in Europe and North America for accelerating alternatives demand.
 
The platform is expected to give SMTB clients easy digital access to the latest private investment opportunities, information about deals on offer, and a way to begin the transaction process, the bank said. The initial focus will be on private equity and real estate investment opportunities.  

SMTB says it will also use the platform to strengthen internal processes, insights and further personalisation for clients.

“The launch of our first digital platform specifically for private markets investments demonstrates our commitment to technological innovation and will greatly enhance how we deliver products and services to our clients,” SMTB’s Asia general manager for business, Kazuhiro Hara, said.

Delio CEO Gareth Lewis co-founded the wealthtech, based in Cardiff, in 2015. He said that selection by one of the region's most prominent banks "validated" Delio's technology, demonstrating the appetite among larger financial institutions to scale up private markets' access quickly.

SMTB is the largest institutional investor in Japan by assets under management and custody.