Allianz X and Power Financial Corporation co-invest C$100 million in Wealthsimple

• Wealthsimple to use capital to evolve its product suite and accelerate growth in its markets of Canada, the U.S., and the U.K.
• Allianz X to join Wealthsimple’s Board of Directors
• Partnership to further development of digital wealth management ecosystem

Allianz X, the digital investment unit of the Allianz Group, and Canada-based Power Financial Corporation, a financial management and holding company, announced that they will invest C$100 million in Wealthsimple, a financial technology company that offers Canada’s leading online investing service and commission-free trading app. Wealthsimple will use the new capital to deepen its customer relationships by developing its existing services and new product offerings, as well as evolving its B2B platform for advisors and institutions.

Allianz X invests in innovative digital companies around the world. Its portfolio includes U.S. insurtech Lemonade, micro-insurer BIMA, and ride hailing companies GO-JEK and SafeBoda.

“As a digitally-enabled financial services provider with a strong customer focus, Wealthsimple can complement Allianz’s business in a number of areas,” said Nazim Cetin, CEO of Allianz X. “This investment underlines our commitment to truly digital companies and is an excellent addition to our portfolio. We look forward to collaborating with Wealthsimple in our digital wealth management ecosystem.”

Since launching in September 2014, Wealthsimple has made investing more accessible through low fees, and easy-to-use digital tools, including its managed portfolio service, Wealthsimple Invest, and its $0-commission trading app, Wealthsimple Trade.

“Bringing Allianz into this investment round is a landmark transaction in Canadian Fintech. The partnership between Wealthsimple, Portag3 Ventures and the Power group since the founding of the company in 2014 is unique,” said Paul Desmarais III, Chairman of Wealthsimple. “We believe the coming together of large incumbent companies that understand how to build global asset managers with innovative, digital-first companies is the future of financial services.”

About Wealthsimple

Wealthsimple is a financial company on a mission to help everyone achieve financial freedom by providing products and advice that are accessible and affordable. Using cutting-edge technology, Wealthsimple takes financial services that are often confusing, opaque and expensive and makes them simple, transparent, and low-cost. Wealthsimple manages over C$4.5 billion for more than 150,000 clients in Canada, the U.S. and the UK. The company was founded by a team of financial experts and technology entrepreneurs, and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The brand has been recognized for its innovative approach to design and storytelling — it’s been recognized as a Most Innovative Company by Fast Company magazine, and has won awards from the Director’s Guild of America, the Webby Awards, the Society of Publication Designers, and Elevate. 

About Allianz X

Allianz X is the digital investment unit of the Allianz Group, one of the world’s leading insurers and asset managers, and part of the Group’s Renewal Agenda. Allianz X invests in digital growth companies that are part of our ecosystems related to insurance: Mobility, Connected Property, Connected Health, Wealth Management & Retirement, and Data Intelligence & Cybersecurity. We provide an interface between portfolio companies and the digital ecosystem within Allianz as well as drive innovation across Allianz’s operating entities and global lines of business. 

About Allianz

The Allianz Group is one of the world’s leading insurers and asset managers with more than 92 million retail and corporate customers. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing around 673 billion euros on behalf of its insurance customers. Furthermore our asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage more than 1.4 trillion euros of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of ecological and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, we hold the leading position for insurers in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In 2018, over 142,000 employees in more than 70 countries achieved total revenues of 131 billion euros and an operating profit of 11.5 billion euros for the group.

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