FNZ and State Street Collaborate On New Wealth Management Servicing Venture

BOSTON & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FNZ and State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) today announced that they are collaborating on a new wealth manager servicing venture. FNZ will acquire a majority stake in State Street’s Wealth Manager Services business, with State Street retaining a minority interest. Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in Q4 2020, are not being disclosed.

The new venture will, upon full implementation, combine the custody expertise of State Street with the international platform operated by FNZ, that today services around 8,000 wealth management and financial advice firms across the UK, Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions. State Street will serve as sub custodian to the custody assets belonging to Wealth Manager Services clients.

Adrian Durham, FNZ Group CEO commented, “We are excited to be partnering with State Street and believe that the combination of our digital wealth platform and their custody expertise will be an attractive proposition for clients.”

“This is the first step in a long-term strategy to expand our platform into the North American market. In the US, we see similar long-term drivers in relation to cost, transparency, digitization and personalization in asset and wealth management as other markets in which we operate.”

Steve Nazzaro, executive vice president of State Street said, “We are delighted to be working with FNZ Group to meet the growing demand for personalized wealth servicing solutions while also maintaining continuity with State Street’s strong custody capabilities.”

Lee Jones, senior vice president of State Street, who will join the new venture as chief executive officer upon closing of the transaction, added, “We will benefit from a significant investment in technology and people in order to expedite our growth strategy, and we are excited about the future.”

Closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.

About FNZ

FNZ is a global platform-as-a-service provider, transforming the way financial intermediaries serve their wealth management clients. FNZ partners with wealth and investment advisors, trust banks, trust companies, insurers and asset managers, leveraging technology to enable wealth management services that are digital, personalized, high-quality and low cost. FNZ is responsible for more than $700 billion in assets under administration (AuA) in 14 international markets across UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific, and employs around 3,000 worldwide.

About State Street Corporation

State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is one of the world's leading providers of financial services to institutional investors including investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading. With $31.86 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration and $2.69 trillion* in assets under management as of March 31, 2020, State Street operates globally in more than 100 geographic markets and employs approximately 39,000 worldwide. For more information, visit State Street's website at www.statestreet.com.

*Assets under management as of March 31, 2020 includes approximately $50 billion of assets with respect to which State Street Global Advisors Funds Distributors, LLC (SSGA FD) serves as marketing agent; SSGA FD and State Street Global Advisors are affiliated.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This News Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of United States securities laws, including statements about our goals and expectations regarding the closing of the agreed sale of State Street’s Wealth Manager Services business to FNZ, with State Street retaining a minority interest in the venture, the intention to implement, and the capabilities of, FNZ’s technology when implemented in the new venture, State Street’s continuing commercial and other relationships with the new venture and the capabilities of and opportunities for the new venture, as well as other business, financial, industry and market factors. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by such forward-looking terminology as “will,” “expect,” “believe,” and “opportunity,” or similar statements or variations of such terms. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, are inherently uncertain, are based on current assumptions that are difficult to predict and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed in those statements. Important factors that may affect future results and outcomes include, without limitation: the ability to complete divestitures and minority interest transactions, including, without limitation, the ability to obtain regulatory approvals and satisfy closing conditions, the ability to expand the use of technology to enhance the efficiency, accuracy and reliability of operations and to mitigate dependencies on information technology and the other factors set forth in our 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K and our subsequent SEC filings. We encourage investors to read these filings, particularly the sections on risk factors, for additional information with respect to any forward-looking statements and prior to making any investment decision. The forward-looking statements contained in this News Release should not by relied on as representing our expectations or beliefs as of any time subsequent to the time this News Release is first issued, and we do not undertake efforts to revise those forward-looking statements to reflect events after that time.