Bite Investments, the award winning global financial technology firm, today announces the launch of a wealth management feature on its Bite Stream platform. This new feature, available to asset managers globally, will enhance access and operational efficiency for alternative investments, facilitating connections between fund managers and the global wealth management community.
Bite Stream enables alternative asset managers to engage with wealth managers directly, using the same platform they use for fundraising, investor management, investor relations, and reporting, thereby eliminating the need for additional, and often costly, intermediary fund platforms to reach this audience. Furthermore, this direct connectivity allows the wealth manager to become a distribution partner of the alternative asset manager.
Addressing the $103 trillion wealth management industry
Alternative asset managers are increasingly looking to the wealth management market due to its substantial size and current under-allocation to alternatives. The retail segment already accounts for half of all global wealth and with wealth managers tapping into lower wealth bands, the wealth management channel will play a key role in driving growth for asset managers.
However, legacy institutional distribution strategies need to evolve, and asset managers need to embrace a more integrated, digital-led interaction model to target the wealth channel. Bite Stream streamlines the process of dealing with the large volume of smaller ticket sizes typical in this segment compared to institutional investors. Regardless of their size or specialization, asset managers can use the platform to raise funds across various investor types. Now, with the addition of wealth manager distributors, they can expand their reach even further.
Alternatives are essential for wealth managers
With the current uncertainties in public markets and the evolving investor need for diversification, it has become a necessity for wealth managers and advisors to consider offering more alternative investment solutions to their underlying clients. There is a clear shift towards more personalized, digital-first solutions. Bite Stream’s new feature enables sophisticated wealth managers and advisors to connect directly with asset managers and gain access to their private market funds, expanding the range of assets available, helping build long-term growth and wealth creation for their clients.
William Rudebeck, Chief Executive Officer at Bite Investments, commented, “Currently, the only efficient ways for alternative asset managers to access the wealth management industry is either through developing their own wealth management distribution solution or by using intermediary platforms, which tend to be expensive and only cater to a very few select managers that fit within a certain level of criteria, set by that specific intermediary platform. Likewise, there has recently been a lot of consolidation within the wealth management market and now many wealth managers can invest into alternative assets themselves independently.”
This legacy structure is no longer fit for purpose:
- Alternative asset managers that have proprietary wealth manager relationships, and / or a strong track record and profile such that they can independently attract wealth management capital without having to pay sizable fees on new AUM to an intermediary.
- The broader alternative asset management market: Bite Stream, combined with this new feature, provides any alternative asset manager with the ability to connect to wealth managers and / or other third-party distributors, in a low cost, streamlined and efficient way.
- Wealth managers: Bite Stream allows sophisticated wealth managers to digitally connect with alternative asset managers in a cost-efficient way. Bite has created an end-to-end, white-labelled platform that removes operational burdens and volume concerns, allowing wealth managers to focus on investing client money more efficiently and building stronger relationships with their customer base.
William Rudebeck added, “Bite Stream’s technology is truly disrupting the alternative asset management industry in its entirety and with this additional feature we ensure that no managers or investors are left behind in today’s digital evolution.”
