Marco Bizzozero paid his dues at traditional banks. Now that he is in fintech, his focus has shifted radically.
He is returning to his roots, Marco Bizzozero tells finews.asia. The Ticino native began his career in private equity at UBS and LGT Capital Partners. Then he was at Deutsche Bank in wealth management when it sold its private equity business to U.S.-based company iCapital Network.
And it was iCapital that contacted him again last year, looking for someone to help drive its international expansion. At Unicredit’s wealth management business at the time, Bizzozero didn’t dither. He joined the American company in December and rediscovered his passion for private equity.
Really a Fintech
It was not an easy start given the pandemic, but Bizzozero was not fazed. He maintains iCapital Network, which was founded in 2013, is a fintech. Its digital platform joins up asset managers offering private equity and alternative investment funds with banks, wealth managers, and family offices who then sell them on to clients.
Private equity, private markets and alternative investments can be summed up as investments in unlisted companies. With bonds yield so low and equities pricey, the private market has grown in popularity in recent years.
High Minimums
The right private market investment can have high returns, but investors must be willing to make high outlays at the start and keep the money tied up for five to seven years. iCapital Network's business model distributes these kinds of funds to a wider audience through banks and asset managers, helping to lower the initial investment.
«Banks and asset managers use the platform as operational infrastructure, allowing them to offer private market investments at scale and efficiently», Bizzozero says. «They have an enormous selection to choose from and they couldn’t take advantage of this alone,» Bizzozero maintains.
Lower Entry Barriers
Calling iCapital Network a fintech is somewhat contradictory: it has stood the test of time, employs more than 400 people, and has placed $73 billion in 760 funds. On the buy-side, practically all the large and some of the smaller asset managers are on its platform. On the sell-side, it counts banks such as UBS and Credit Suisse.
There is something else that is different. «Fintechs have this image of being disruptors», maintains Bizzozero, «we think of ourselves as enablers and banking partners who help lower entry barriers for investors with an efficient private equity digital investment process.»
Hiring in Zurich
In October, iCapital Network took over a 65-strong team from Portuguese tech company Runtime, which will build a new tech hub in Lisbon. In January, it acquired U.S. company AI Insight, which specializes in artificial intelligence and should help to better meet client needs on the platform.
In Zurich since 2018, the company now aims to raise capacity and staffing significantly to expand into new markets and countries under Bizzozero. It hired ex-UBS banker Vinod Berchtold as operating chief to help, and it is looking to hire additional personnel.
London and Hong Kong Next
London and Hong Kong are to follow by mid-year. Tom Slocock oversees product development from the U.K. and is, like Bizzozero, a former Deutsche Bank executive. In Asia, the company is in final negotiations with a potential appointee.
Most of Bizzozero’s career has been at major global banks. Being a member of iCapital Network’s management represents a fresh challenge.
He finds the entrepreneurial hustle so invigorating that he doesn’t have the time to follow goings-on at Zurich’s Paradeplatz, even given all the headlines it is making, he says, with a slight grin.
