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FundGuard
From Global Custodian , November 2019 : “ A FinTech firm using artificial intelligence ( AI ) is launching a new platform allowing asset managers , custodians and fund administrators to accelerate their ultimate goal of digitisation .” From Global Custodian , April 2022 : “ Citi and State Street have joined initial investors Blumberg Capital , LionBird Ventures , Team8 Capital , bringing total investment in FundGuard to more than $ 55 million in three and a half years .” A start- up that resonated with the securities services industry almost immediately , the funding round announced earlier this year followed a successful 12 months for FundGuard , landing asset manager , fund administration and custody bank customers ; launching its enhanced investment accounting solution , including support for digital assets ; and announcing the appointment of John Lehner , former State Street and BNY Mellon executive as president . Speaking to Global Custodian , Lehner said the funding round will help FundGuard to bring on additional resources and achieve scale . “ We ’ re bringing on resources across the spectrum for both development and capacity . We ’ re working with more clients to bring them live onto the platform , providing support and services to them . “ We ’ re also expanding the development team , to continue to identify new areas for us to expand the platform . One of the benefits of being a cloud-native platform is the speed at which we can move , and the ability to open it up for third party
ELEVATOR PITCH
FundGuard revolutionises investment funds technology with a next generation AI-powered platform .
Notable partners and collaborators : Citi , State Street
development .”
FundGuard is an AI-powered SaaS platform for investment management and administration , helping asset managers and fund administrators to manage mutual funds , ETFs , hedge funds , insurance products and pension funds . Its cloud-native , AIpowered operating system and technology platform is transforming investment operations and existentially changing asset servicing to enable reduced fees and the ability to offer new and innovative products - including digital asset services and support for sustainable investing - at scale . Looking to the future , Lehner told Global Custodian earlier this year , that among other areas , the company is exploring two main sectors for development – accommodating new asset types , particularly crypto assets onto the platform and processing those ; and a contingency / oversight tool for clients ’ providers and systems . “ Given that some of these legacy platforms now have more frequently occurring outages for our clients in fiduciary , oversight or depository roles , they really are eager to have in place a contingency and oversight capability – which is something we ’ re now working with a number of clients on . “ There are other areas that we ’ re working on , but these two are the ones we hear most frequently from our clients .”
32 Global Custodian Fall 2022