Start-up Evolute is undergoing massive changes: Chairman Michael Hartweg will run the firm after several setbacks, and is looking for partners, he told finews.com.
Last March, Zurich-based Evolute revealed a big bang: the fintech start-up would merger with Swisscomply, a compliance and regulatory adviser. The tie-up would offer a unique opportunity for digital wealth management, the thinking went.
Just 16 months later, the deal is history: the combined firm's shareholders will on Thursday vote to scrap the deal and to separate Evolute from Swisscomply. The move represents a blow to Evolute's plans of offering digitized services for wealth managers alongside compliance advice. Swisscomply CEO Kaspar Wohnlich, who had led the firm since it merged, will leave.
Tech Focus
Michael Hartweg, co-founder and chairman of Evolute, will take over the job at Evolute and reverse course. Hartweg said the split is a business decision: «We want to keep developing the wealth management platform and to focus our financial resources on that», Hartweg told finews.com. Swisscomply's platform will remain with the Zurich-based fintech firm.
To be sure, Evolute is watching its pennies: the loss-making company has been looking for a strategic shareholder. The company's talks with Leonteq, which Hartweg also co-founded, moved to an advanced stage earlier this year, but they eventually fizzled.
Cultural Clash
A former Goldman Sachs banker, Hartweg needs partners not just for a capital injection; he also wants to ink pacts «to offer an added value to the Swiss financial center», he said. «We are very open in terms of partnerships and speak very openly with tech providers or data specialists, or other firms with a similar business model.»
Evolute's largest shareholder, Hartweg is likely to consider the potential cultural clash much more carefully than with Swisscomply. The two firms never effectively merged: while Evolute's wealth management platform is technology-driven, Swisscomply is an advisory boutique.
Prominent Hire
The planned merger wasn't a complete disaster: Swisscomply helped Evolute to more easily tap the wealth management market. The two will also maintain a service agreement. «Strategically, we have the option of selling the advisory part of Swisscomply to another partner», Hartweg said. Back in the saddle of day-to-day business, he said Evolute is looking for a new CEO in the mid-term.
The company managed to recruit another prominent fintech banker: Patrick Barnert (pictured) will join Evolute's board. Barnert is CEO of Qumram, a regtech firm that was snapped up by U.S. data specialist Dynatrace last year.
