London-headquartered pensions FinTech Smart has just closed its £76m ($95m) Series E funding round.
The round was led by Aquiline Capital Partners, a private investment firm based in New York and London with backing from existing investors Chrysalis Investments, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, DWS, Barclays and Natixis Investment Managers.
The round followed a £165m Series D fund raise in 2021.
Established in 2014 by Andrew Evans and Will Wynne in the wake of the UK’s roll out of mandatory workplace pension auto enrolment, Smart owns and operates one of ‘the big four’ UK auto enrolment master trusts, Smart Pension, serving more than one million savers and 70,000 employers.
Evans and Wynne said: “This investment is strong recognition of Smart’s success and journey to date, and highlights the immense opportunity that lies ahead. It is also a resounding vote of confidence in the UK’s FinTech sector, and its leadership in financial services provision.
“We are on a mission to transform retirement, savings and financial wellbeing. We are the global leader in retirement technology and our industry-leading platform, Keystone, is being deployed by the biggest, most successful financial institutions around the world.
“This is a $62 trillion global sector in the early stages of being disrupted, and we are uniquely positioned to take advantage of that. We have already reached scale and profitability in the UK, with Smart Pension now serving in excess of one million savers, and this backing allows us to achieve that scale and profitability in our global markets across the group. We welcome Aquiline to our board and we’re incredibly excited for the years ahead.
Aquiline Capital CEO Jeff Greenberg said: “We have every confidence that Smart is a multi-billion pound company in the making.
“The UK remains at the forefront in the digitalisation and democratisation of retirement savings and we are excited to support a UK leader in the sector as it helps to solve pressing issues facing savers, financial institutions and governments across the world.”
Smart continues to strengthen its board of directors, with Charles Janeway of Aquiline joining as non-executive director.
Lazard acted as financial adviser to Smart in relation to the Series E funding round. Perella Weinberg acted as financial adviser to Aquiline.
Funds from this investment round will bolster Smart’s global expansion plans, building on the company’s strong performance in Europe, the US, Middle East and Asia.
Proceeds from the funding round will also help finance acquisitions and accelerate Smart’s investment in and distribution of its proprietary retirement savings technology platform, Keystone.
Smart launched Keystone in 2015 to help governments and financial institutions deliver retirement savings and income solutions that are digital, bespoke and cost efficient.
In addition to the UK, Smart is operating in the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia, with more than a million savers entrusting over £5 billion in assets on its Keystone platform.
Smart has experienced a period of exceptional growth, with group revenue of £67m in 2022, a 65 per cent increase on the previous year. In February 2023, Smart was ranked among Europe’s fastest-growing companies by the Financial Times.
Smart today already has over £5.5 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM) on its platform and is expected to exceed £10bn by the end of June 2023 following this Series E funding.
Growth has been driven by the accelerating global demand for modern, digital retirement savings technology, the success of Smart Pension in the UK and strategic M&A.