The latest news in investment offerings, financial products and other services relative to wealth advisors and their clients.

BNY Mellon
BNY Mellon, a global financial services company with $47.8 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, has announced an expanded partnership between alternative credit specialist CIFC and BNY Mellon Investment Management.  

Building on the relationship between BNY Mellon and CIFC, this expanded partnership will see BNY Mellon IM having access to CIFC’s US direct lending strategy on its global distribution platform for clients across EMEA and APAC, the firm said in a statement this week.

The partnership comes to fruition at a time when the private credit market is benefiting from cyclical and secular growth trends. European institutions are under-allocated, and demand from investors is increasing globally.

“Our clients continue to look for innovative investment solutions across both public and private markets, specifically US private credit,” Matt Oomen, global head of distribution at BNY Mellon Investment Management, said. “This partnership gives our clients exposure to the benefits US private credit has to offer, whilst enabling CIFC to access our extensive, deep investor relationships across the regions, as well as some of the largest pools of capital available,” he added.

Albion Capital
Albion Capital, a UK alternative investment manager, has just completed a £60 million ($76 million) raise across five of its six venture capital trusts (VCT) to tap into a pipeline of new UK opportunities and to support high growth companies within the existing portfolio.

Albion Capital believes that the long-term capital provided by VCTs allows startup companies to evolve and contribute to the broader UK economy, particularly through job creation. This fundraise also aims to support promising businesses in its existing VCT portfolio of around 65 companies throughout the UK, the firm said in a statement. Many of these companies grew rapidly last year, including Proveca, Egress, and Quantexa, which was the first UK unicorn of 2023. 

This latest fundraise will allow Albion Capital to invest in high growth companies, focusing on B2B technology, healthcare and DeepTech opportunities across the UK.

“VCTs remain an attractive long-term vehicle for investors as they are able to invest throughout economic cycles; they provide compelling tax benefits and have delivered good long-term performance,” Will Fraser-Allen, managing partner at Albion Capital, said.