Marcel Ospel is among the private investors in a Swiss fintech firm, finews.com has learned. It is rare sign of life from the mercurial former UBS chairman.
Zurich-based Evolute concluded a 10 million Swiss francs ($9.9 million) financing round, the fintech firm said in a statement on Wednesday. None other than former UBS Chairman Marcel Ospel was among the investors rounding out the cash injection, a person familiar with the investment told finews.com.
Ospel, widely viewed as the Swiss bank's crisis-era villain, has disappeared from public view to live quietly in a Zurich suburb with his third wife and their twins. He is estimated by Swiss magazine «Bilanz» (in German) to be worth $175 million.
He pitched in an undisclosed amount in the fundraising, according to the person, alongside Urs Wietlisbach (pictured above), one of the founders of private equity asset manager Partners Group, and Michael Hartweg, Evolute's founder, chairman, and temporary CEO.
Three-Year Cash Drip
Ospel's investment comes shortly after Evolute scrapped plans to offer digitized services for wealth managers alongside compliance advice through a merger with another firm. Hartweg (pictured below), a former Goldman Sachs banker, took the helm again last year and went looking for new partners – and money.
The consortium of Ospel – who also invested in Swiss fintech Centralway Numbrs – Wietlisbach, and Hartweg will pump the 10 million francs into the fintech over the next three years. «The new investments will provide certainty about Evolute's long-term development and allow Evolute to implement its successful strategy step by step and expand its range of services and attractive business model», the company said.
2019 Launches?
Evolute currently oversees 9 billion francs in its platform on behalf of 17 clients. This year, the company plans to launch a mobile advisory solution to manage and report non-bank assets including cryptocurrencies into one portfolio.
Internationally, the Swiss start-up competes with more advanced companies like Canopy. The Singapore-based fintech has partnered with Credit Suisse. Etops, which recently split from Nectar Financial, is another aspiring rival.
