UBS Teams With Fintech Incubator: Tech Roundup

UBS entered into a strategic partnership with startup incubator and accelerator Tenity (formerly known as F10), the companies said Thursday.

Meanwhile, UBS’ strategic venture and innovation division, UBS Next, is investing in the Tenity Incubation Fund. Among the goals is to “strengthen innovation in the fintech sector,” the firms said.

Tenity has an integrated investment arm that invests in innovative technology companies in the financial and insurance industries. Its investment strategy focus is on early-stage companies and it seeks broad geographic diversification.

More than 250 companies have participated in Tenity programs so far. The new fund will seek to invest in up to 400 new companies.

“Digitalization is the key to future-oriented banking,” Sabine Keller-Busse, president of UBS Switzerland, said in a statement. “The partnership with Tenity gives us the opportunity to expand our fintech network and align innovative ideas and solutions at an early stage.”

With the partnership, UBS will become Tenity’s preferred global strategic banking partner, providing UBS with access to Tenity’s global ecosystem of young, innovative fintechs, expanding beyond UBS’s existing fintech network, according to the firms.

The goal of UBS Next’s investment in the Tenity Incubation Fund is to “promote innovation in the fintech sector,” UBS said. It also represents an attractive opportunity to invest in early-stage fintechs, according to Mike Dargan, UBS Group chief digital and information officer.

The companies didn’t say how much of an investment UBS is making in Tenity and didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Advisors Excel Partners With Catchlight

Advisors Excel, an RIA that manages $18.5 billion in client funds, will use Catchlight’s data–driven insights and proprietary artificial intelligence to help its advisors customize and scale prospecting efforts, the firms said Thursday.

Catchlight’s insights and AI will be used by advisors to “better understand and prioritize their lead,” the companies said. adding, “Catchlight distills up to 2,000 data points on leads into unique profiles which highlight specific and important financial life characteristics of the leads.”

Catchlight’s AI then scores leads based on their likelihood to be converted into clients, helping Advisors Excel’s advisors answer questions such as, “Who should I call next? And what are they interested in?”

Advisors will be able to use the insights provided by Catchlight’s tech to improve engagement with suggested topics and personalized outreach. “Measurement of a lead’s social connections and other holistic profile elements create additional ways to segment and prioritize clients beyond chasing after investable assets alone,” the firms said.

In 2022, more than 500 advisors working with Advisors Excel did more than $12.2 billion in annuity, Medicare and life insurance production sales, according to the company.

Broadridge Develops Tech-Enabled Solution

Broadridge Financial Solutions developed a new, technology-enabled template and end-to-end process solution for fund companies and fund administrators, it said.