New UBS Portfolio Focuses $200M On FinTechs

Multinational investment bank UBS has launched the UBS Next platform in order to help invest in FinTechs and the “broader tech ecosystem,” according to a press release.

With UBS Next, a $200 million portfolio, the company wants to look at internal initiatives and existing strategic partnerships with “technology companies, startups, regulators, peer banks, other market participants, academia and industry thought leaders,” the release stated.

UBS Next will focus on cooperation on new digital tech, boosting new ideas like public cloud, microservices architecture and artificial intelligence (AI), and finding “new and effective ways to engage with our clients and deliver our services,” with new driving strategies to help implement “cutting-edge” ideas, according to the release.

UBS Next will pursue direct investments in early stage FinTechs and other such companies. The bank has also entered a strategic collaboration with global venture capital firm Anthemis, which has been identifying FinTech companies for the past decade and will now help boost investment opportunity identification, the release stated.

“Connecting to FinTechs and tech startups through our innovation labs, digital factories, future of finance initiatives as well as project collaborations has always been key to remaining at the forefront of the digital movement to drive client experiences and operational excellence,” said Sabine Keller-Busse, group chief operating officer and president of UBS Europe, Middle East and Africa, in the release.

Mike Dargan, head of Group Technology, said in the release that UBS Next “is a further step to accelerate our innovation efforts as well as to identify and apply the latest technology for our client businesses. With our investments through close collaboration with Anthemis, we widen our access to FinTech startups.”

According to investors, PYMNTS reported, FinTech investments are doing well right now, although analysts warn that investments and markets are “hot until they’re not,” and that some external event could change things in the future.

But for now, the trend is still leaning toward growth, with technological development underscoring the strength of the pull of the digital age on the business world.