iCapital has been part of a trend of new firms enabling private bank and wealth management clients to enter previously hard-to-enter asset classes such as venture capital and private equity.

iCapital, the New York-headquartered fintech platform driving access to alternative investments for the wealth management industry, has partnered with investor services group IQ-EQ. 

Under the pact, the firms will establish a new series of France-domiciled funds, which will increase access for individual investors resident in France to global alternative investment opportunities via wealth managers and banks. Access will also be handled through French unit-linked life insurance policies.

“We believe that our new French domiciled funds solutions will be a game changer for asset managers looking to distribute alternative investment funds via the wealth management and insurance channels in France. It will also significantly increase the range of high quality alternative investment opportunities available to banks, wealth managers, and their private clients in France,” Marco Bizzozero, head of international business at iCapital, said.

Explaining the partnership, iCapital said France is one of the largest wealth markets in Europe at $15.7 trillion but only a fraction of this is invested in private markets. Numbers are growing: According to France Invest, a record €4.8 billion ($5.26 billion) was invested by individual investors and family offices in private equity in France in 2022.

iCapital has appointed IQ-EQ’s Paris-based team to provide a suite of fund administration services and to act as third-party alternative investment fund manager (AIFM) for iCapital funds that will be launched through the partnership and made available on iCapital Marketplace.

Since its launch a decade ago, iCapital has, along with firms such as CAIS (US) and Moonfare (Germany), been part of a trend of new firms enabling private bank and wealth management clients to enter previously hard-to-enter asset classes such as venture capital and private equity. See here for an interview (2022) with Bizzozero.