Alternative investment management firm Lunate and BNY Mellon have revealed plans to invest in Alpheya, a new wealth management technology company based in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Operating from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Alpheya will develop a tailored wealth management technology platform for wealth and asset managers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Expected to start catering to clients in 2024, the new wealth technology firm will be financed with a capital commitment of $300m. BNY Mellon has a minority interest in the financial technology company to which it will offer its global knowhow in wealth technology.
Alpheya is expected to address the rising demand in the Middle East from wealth and asset managers, investment houses and private banks, for a comprehensive digital solution that offers a variety of services.
The services include financial planning, portfolio construction, client onboarding, trading and rebalancing, reporting of risk management, and analytics.
Lunate managing partner Seif Fikry said: “We look forward to leveraging our local industry and investment expertise with BNY Mellon’s long history in wealth technology solutions to help wealth managers in the Middle East meet the evolving needs of their clients.
“Not only will this new platform transform wealth capabilities for financial institutions across MENA, it will also strengthen Abu Dhabi’s role as a global hub for wealth and asset management.”
By leveraging the latest security and data architecture, Alpheya’s platform will be designed to meet the data privacy and localisation needs for all the markets in the region. It will be built on an open and modular architecture, said BNY Mellon.
The new platform will also deliver digital tools and solutions for customers to cope with the increasing challenges of managing complex technology and various investment vehicles.
BNY Mellon chief growth officer Akash Shah said: “BNY Mellon is one of the largest wealth management technology providers, and the new company will leverage our deep expertise in providing wealth managers and investors digital tools and solutions for enhancing portfolio management, seamlessly connecting to local and global providers, and harnessing world-leading data management capabilities.
“We are proud to invest in an organisation which recognises the need for a locally-developed wealth technology solution, and to support the burgeoning wealth management industry in the region.”
