Simon Markets, a financial technology platform that spun out of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., secured up to $100 million in a financing round led by growth equity firm WestCap.
The funding round will enable the New York-based firm, which counts financial advisers as users, to expand into alternatives like private equity and hedge funds, as well as digital assets such as cryptocurrency funds, Chief Executive Jason Broder said in an interview. Simon may also seek to expand into Europe and Asia, make strategic acquisitions and invest in portfolio analytics tools.
The transaction values Simon at more than $800 million, people with knowledge of the matter said. The company was developed at Goldman Sachs and was spun off in 2018.
Goldman is an investor in Simon, as are Barclays, Credit Suisse Group, HSBC Holdings, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Prudential Financial Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. Existing investors participated in the latest round.
“We’ve experienced incredible growth since the spin-out,” Broder said, citing a tripling in volumes to $25 billion in calendar 2020 from the year prior. Simon is on track to double that figure in 2021, he added.
The company’s platform provides wealth managers across the U.S., including Raymond James Financial Inc. and Nationwide, with access to structured investments such as market-linked notes, defined outcome ETFs and registered index-linked annuities which Broder says offer a level of protection against current market volatility.
Roughly 100,000 financial professionals have access to Simon, and about 30,000 have used it so far this year. That’s a figure that Broder says the firm will seek to boost in part through education about structured products, which are known for being complex, and by bolstering offerings.
“Simon is demystifying the alternatives space,” said Kevin Marcus, a WestCap partner who is joining the company’s board. Financial advisers will have to change as technology advances and as clients demand more interaction, he said.
WestCap’s bet on Simon was partly fueled by its belief that the wealth management industry will increasingly shift toward alternatives from traditional asset classes, he added.
As Goldman Sachs tightens rules on event contract trading, RIAs and hedge funds are weighing their own policies
Meanwhile, Wells Fargo lures defectors from UBS and JPMorgan to expand in the East Coast, while another bank aligns itself with RayJay's financial institutions division.
New research suggests AI-exposed workers over 55 are leaving jobs more often than before ChatGPT’s rise.
Agentic AI is landing in trading, treasury and wealth management roles across major banks, with advisory functions as the next frontier.
Wells Fargo affiliate and women-focused wealth firm both promote leadership as they scale advisor support.
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
