Apex Group buys NZ’s fund manager services provider

Apex Group has announced the acquisition of Implemented Investment Holdings Limited, the parent company of Implemented Investment Solutions (IIS) and InvestNow, as it continues its New Zealand growth.

The move would expand Apex’ presence in the New Zealand to over 200 employees and followed the company’s recent entry into the market with the addition of MMC, providing fund and wealth administration services to the NZ investment market.

Following the close of this acquisition, IIS and InvestNow would become part of Apex Group, alongside the former MMC business, with Anthony Edmonds, founder and chief executive of the IIS Group, and Gareth Fleming, chief financial officer and executive director, holding senior management roles in the combined business.

IIS provides investment services to large global fund managers, enabling them to establish and distribute New Zealand domiciled funds to their investors, with clients including New Zealand’s most investment companies, such as specialist investment managers, KiwiSaver providers, adviser groups, and family offices.

IIS is also the issuer and manager of 22 investment schemes with approximately NZ$5 billion of assets under management (AUM) and with the addition of IIS would be expected to extend the geographic reach of Apex Group’s existing fund management company and distribution services currently delivered via FundRock and LRI subsidiaries.

InvestNow is a digital retail investment platform enabling over 25,000 clients to invest online in over 150 different managed funds from leading New Zealand and global fund managers, as well as a range of different leading banks’ term deposits and manages approximately NZ$1.3 billion of assets, including the multi-manager InvestNow KiwiSaver Scheme.

“We are proud of the achievements and growth of the IIS and InvestNow businesses and are excited to be joining Apex Group to build on this success and offer a wider range of services to our clients,” Edmonds said.

“Both our clients and employees will benefit from leveraging Apex Group’s global fund hosting and management company capabilities, enabling investment managers to offer their investment solutions in the thriving New Zealand market.

“Apex Group’s global capability and experience enables us to continue to grow and capture the significant opportunity that exists within InvestNow, and I am extremely excited about what this means for our clients.”