The firm said it has drawn investor backing from a raft of institutions and its own clients.

FNZ, a global wealth management platform which has bought several businesses in recent years, said yesterday that it has secured $650 million in new equity funding from its institutional shareholders. 

The firm said the funding “provides further financial strength to support its long-term business plan and its commitment to delivering enhanced outcomes for clients worldwide.”

Investors included La Caisse, Generation Investment Management, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and Motive Partners. Others include some of FNZ’s clients: Aberdeen Group, Aviva, FirstCape, Ninety One and Nucleus Financial Platforms. 

“Over the past year we have created the conditions for FNZ’s long-term success: putting client delivery at the core of our plans, instilling operational discipline, and driving profitable growth,” Blythe Masters, CEO of the firm, said. “The opportunity ahead is huge and this capital allows us to grasp it with both hands.”

The firm said it has won new mandates and renewed partnerships with “blue-chip financial institutions” across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa. FNZ also said it has entered a strategic partnership with Microsoft.

FNZ’s capital-raising activity has drawn fire, however. In late July, reports said it was being sued for $4.6 billion by some employee shareholders, who claim that their shares were unfairly diluted through issuance of preference shares and warrants. Kiwi CayLP, representing FNZ's class B shareholders, alleged that a share issuance unfairly shifted $1.5 billion in value to institutional investors. Kiwi CayLP warned that the employee shareholders' equity could be wiped out if FNZ were to be valued below $8.3 billion in a sale or IPO. 

The firm, originally founded in New Zealand in 2003, and now headquartered in London, has rejected the claims as being without merit.

FNZ also operates in Australia, Singapore, Canada, Germany, Sweden and South Africa.

In October, FNZ said it had concluded the Section 166 review and associated Voluntary Requirement (VREQ) in the UK. This followed the company having strengthened its governance, delivery, risk management and operational frameworks, FNZ added.