Conquest Planning today announced that it has closed a Series A round of capital.
The $24 million round was led by Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, according to a statement from the company, and joined by existing capital partner Portage Ventures as well as new investors BNY Mellon and RBC.
The fresh capital is intended to help the company expand into the US and UK markets, bringing a “modern financial planning platform to financial advisors, retail investors, and high-net-worth families.”
Last year, the Winnipeg-born fintech expanded into the UK, where over 90% of the British population doesn’t have financial plan, according to a review from UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.
Conquest’s goal is to make financial planning more accessible to investors across the globe. The company self-described “secret sauce” is a proprietary, AI-based “Strategic Advice Manager.”
SAM “simplifies the advice process by removing the traditional trial-and-error style of building financial plans and steering the user toward the best financial outcomes” and is designed to work in an investor’s best interest, considering their location, investments, goals, and personal preferences.
“Demand for tech-enabled financial experiences, whether consumer-initiated or advisor-led, is increasing exponentially,” believes Conquest Planning CEO Mark Evans. “We are proud to work with reputable and forward-thinking firms that recognize the scope of this opportunity.”
This latest capital raise brings Conquest’s total funding to date to almost $35 million.
Fidelity International Strategic Ventures will accelerate Conquest’s penetration of the UK market, while Portage’s ecosystem and network continues to drive growth locally and internationally, according to Conquest.
In addition, BNY Mellon’s involvement will “foster a stronger strategic foothold in the US” while the backing from RBC is a “testament to Conquest’s market-leading position in Canada.”
“Conquest Planning has the potential to transform the way advisers engage with their clients, and ultimately the way they do business,” Jackie Boylan, Head of Fidelity Adviser Solutions, stated last year.
Pre-Pandemic, advisors were spending an average of 10 hours creating each financial plan, not inclusive of the time spent delivering and explaining it, according to Conquest, which aims to “reduce this number substantially.”
Conquest has a mission to “maximize advisors’ time and make quality financial advice available to all,” said Ainslie Simmonds, president of Pershing X, a BNY Mellon startup business unit, which announced a collaboration with Conquest in 2022. “Its platform helps address a pain point for advisors—the lack of interoperability between customer relationship management technology and other critical elements of their tech stacks.”
According to Barrie Laver, managing director of venture capital at RBC, “rapid innovation underway in the Canadian wealth management ecosystem will soon be embraced on a global scale.”
“After tremendous early success … in Canada, we are excited for the opportunity to bring Conquest Planning to the UK,” Evans stated in June.
Conquest was founded in 2018.
Leave a Reply