Vistra has announced its acquisition of the US-based Fund Administration and Transfer Agent business of Phoenix American Financial Services.
This transaction does not include Phoenix American’s aviation services business.
This transaction will expand Vistra’s presence and capabilities in the business-critical US market, allowing it to provide deeper and broader end-to-end fund solutions across the entire investment life cycle. In particular, the move will enhance Vistra’s fund administration services to include an industry leading transfer agent solution and further deepen its private market capabilities. The deal will also bring new capabilities to Vistra in the high-volume retail investor space, with the acquisition of Phoenix American’s proprietary technology platform (STAR-XMS), which tracks investors and investment transactions to assist in fund performance reporting.
Phoenix American’s Fund Administration and Transfer Agent business provides strong capability, product knowledge and an expert team supporting publicly-registered Reg D, Reg A and Reg CF funds and other wealth advisor marketed funds. This is a fast-growing distribution channel for US and European private markets and will open doors to the US for Vistra’s clients operating predominantly in Asia and Europe. For Phoenix American Fund Administration and Transfer Agent clients in the private markets space, they will now have access to Vistra’s global leading corporate and fund solutions expertise. This includes support as they expand outside of the US, helping to navigate challenges including the number of countries of domicile, governance risks, availability of talent and management fees.
Simon Webster (pictured), CEO of Vistra Group, stated: “Vistra’s vision is to make operating globally borderless and frictionless. Our solutions help our clients to navigate complexity in both their domestic and international markets and, as a result, to operate efficiently and compliantly wherever they need to. This significant upgrade to our capabilities in the USA will help us to support our North American clients’ growth ambitions as well as provide new access into the US market for our clients across the world.”
Andrew Constantin, COO of Phoenix American, stated: “As a family business, Phoenix American is rooted in our culture as a close-knit team that works as a partner with our clients, freeing them to concentrate on making sales and acquiring assets. This culture was cultivated over 50 years servicing investment funds, with typical employees having over 10 years of experience, delivering true professionalism. This combination with Vistra reflects an excellent strategic and cultural fit between our two organizations due to our shared focus on core values, client commitment and a deep bench of talented employees.”
As part of the deal, Zane Doyle, Chief Strategy Officer of Phoenix American, will join Vistra. He added: “The US is the world’s largest marketplace for private market funds and administration solutions. It is also host to a vibrant market of SEC-registered alternative funds catering to a growing number of distribution channels. This transaction represents a major growth opportunity over the next five to seven years. The combined strengths of Phoenix American’s Fund Administration and Transfer Agent business and Vistra will provide existing and new clients access to a host of new services and solutions.”
