Access, security and anonymity are game changers for those in the portfolio analytics business who wish to effectively convince clients to share data, according to Canopy’s chief operating officer Eryn Wu in a conversation with finews.asia.
A growing number of established financial institutions and emerging fintechs are offering portfolio analytics capabilities by receiving and automatically consolidating account data. For clients, this can help support their own needs like risk management or reporting. And for wealth managers, it can strengthen relationships through greater familiarity with the overall financial view.
But, according to Singapore-based Canopy, a major edge for attracting users to such platforms lies in the distance that can be maintained with the end-client. In fact, its platform is deliberately designed so that the firm is incapable of identifying clients and their data.
«Canopy is, by design, an anonymous platform,» said Canopy COO Eryn Wu in an interview with finews.asia. «Our clients do not need to tell us who they are, which organization they represent or other personal information to be onboarded. When data is provided to us, we have a very structured process in place for clients to omit any personally identifiable information.»
Data Sovereignty
The major reason that Canopy is able to securely guarantee anonymity – not simply sit on encrypted data – is due to the structure of its platform that allows each client to retain ownership of their own database rather than access data via an intermediary. In contrast, many competitors were not established with such a decentralized structure and any decision to adopt may take time.
«We understand that data sovereignty matters to our clients,» Wu said. «Canopy was designed in a unique way where each client owns a database of their own. Clients appreciate that their database can be directly accessed anytime.»
US Expansion
Founded in 2013, Canopy first built a presence in Asia via its Singapore headquarters before expanding to Europe after four years through its Zurich-based entity.
Its newest target market is the US where it established an entity in August and is in the midst of a $20 million funding round to finance the expansion, following $3 million raised during a bridge round in April. The new funds will be used to grow existing teams and invest in product development with a focus on building to scale.
«I believe we do have a material advantage compared to our competitors and even incumbents in the US right now,» Wu said. «In terms of our target clients, it will be similar to our other markets with a continued focus on family offices and wealth managers.»
Growth in Numbers
According to Canopy’s website, it currently has more than $160 billion in assets-under-reporting involving 325 custodians and more than 2,200 end-clients. This includes not only top private banks but also family offices and, increasingly, external asset managers.
«We gained our reputation by collaborating with top private banks such as Credit Suisse – our anchor client and investor – and Bank of Singapore,» Wu shared.
«From there onwards, we pivoted into the family office market and we’ve more than doubled the number of clients from the segment since 2020. We are now seeing more and more interest from multi-family offices or external asset managers. The size of these clients can vary from 20 to 200 end-clients.»
