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Best-Performing Fund Brands Globally According to the Broadridge Fund Brand 50 2023 Report

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The latest edition of Broadridge’s Fund Brand 50 (FB50), an annual research study by global Fintech leader Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) was released today, highlighting the world’s best-performing third-party asset management brands. The study reveals ‘green’ credentials are more coveted – and more scrutinised – by European fund selectors than ever before.

“This development follows news of a European Commission clarification on funds which market themselves under the ‘deepest green’ Article 9 classification,” said Liam Martin, Director of EMEA Insights, Broadridge. Despite this development, the incentive for firms to establish their environmental bona fides is stronger than ever, as Broadridge Fund Buyer Focus Intelligence (FBFI) reveals European fund selector sentiment appetite for ESG assets proved to be one of the sole positive areas of demand through 2022’s collapse in risk appetite.

The independent study, now in its 12th year, measures and ranks asset managers’ relative brand attractiveness based on fund selector perceptions: taking into account 10 brand attributes to reveal the top global and regional brands in Europe, the U.S. and APAC. FB50 also reveals the local market brand leaders in APAC and Europe’s most significant retail markets for third-party fund distribution. This is the latest study from Broadridge’s Data and Analytics business and highlights the depth and breadth of the firm’s global market insights.

Top-10 European Asset Management Brands

Rank

Fund Group

Change

1

BlackRock

No Change

2

JPMorgan AM

No Change

3

Fidelity

No Change

4

Pictet AM

No Change

5

Amundi

↑ 1

6

Robeco

↓ 1

7

Schroders

No Change

8

iShares

↑ 3

9

Nordea

↑ 1

10

Flossbach von Storch

↑ 3

Key insights

The top-five global brands, led by BlackRock, are all industry giants in terms of both assets under management and operational scale. The top firms continue to jostle for pole position, and there has been some change at the top end of the leaderboard. The remainder of the top-50 list sees selector’s favourite companies run the gamut, from niche product and local market specialists to the major one-stop-shop providers.

In the wake of the announcement of the European Commission’s clampdown on ‘greenwashing’, ESG credentials are vital to fund buyers.

This provides asset managers with a chance to translate ‘green’ credentials into a genuine competitive advantage. This year’s FB50 study shows that positive perceptions of a firm’s ESG credentials can have an outsized impact on the success of smaller managers. Firms who have their Article 9 credentials revoked run the risk of reputational damage.

But ESG isn’t the only shift affecting fund buyer sentiment. High-performing pandemic-era growth strategies are beginning to suffer course correction, which in some cases has led to managers sharply dropping down the leaderboard. An extensive re-rating of former growth market beneficiaries is likely to define the next few years.

In some cases, the reputational damage was along extreme lines: firms facing scandal, criminal proceedings or significant exposure to Russia all suffered steep drops down the leaderboard. We are clearly in a new era of ethical investing, where fund buyers will not maintain relationships with firms whose activities fail to meet their moral standards, regardless of fund performance.

Valued attributes

European selectors valued ‘Client-orientated thinking’ as the most important brand attribute, ahead of last year’s favourite, ‘Appealing investment strategy’. Clearly a year of upheaval has led fund buyers to feel more comfortable when they are the focus of attention, with selectors placing a high value on those they can trust to respond and meet their needs. Despite the rise of new metrics for measuring asset manager value, good client service never goes out of fashion.

The rest of the top five was as follows: ‘Appealing invest strategy, ‘Expert in what they do’, ‘Keeping best informed’ and ‘Innovation/adaptation to change’ – revealing some changes in preference from last year’s ranking.

Additional findings from this year’s study include:

  • Expert reputation drove the fastest-rising brands in Europe: whether the magic touch of a maverick founder; an unorthodox mixture of star-led and qualitative teams; or stock-selection-focused active managers with strong ‘green’ credentials, firms enjoying positive fund buyer perceptions of expertise made up ground on larger asset managers as they shot up the rankings.
  • With many European fund buyers facing SFDR headaches, firms with strong communications and disclosure capabilities found themselves enjoying a major competitive advantage.

Artificial Intelligence

Bravent, Microsoft’s Technology Consulting Partner, Expands into Northern Europe

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DUBLIN, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The technology consulting firm Bravent, a leader in Microsoft solutions and artificial intelligence, announces its expansion into Northern Europe. This strategic move is part of the Spanish firm’s ongoing effort to extend its expertise in innovation internationally, supporting companies towards digital transformation.

As a Microsoft partner, Bravent consistently provides cutting-edge technology solutions that enable companies to maximize efficiency, improve productivity and achieve digitalization. The expansion into Northern Europe represents a milestone in Bravent’s history, marking a new chapter in its bid to consolidate its innovation leadership.
“Expanding our presence to Northern Europe aligns with our vision to bring state-of-the-art AI solutions and Microsoft expertise to businesses in this region,” said José Luis Carrascosa, CEO of Bravent, who expressed his enthusiasm to “contribute to the technology growth and innovation landscape in Northern Europe with our robust solutions and experienced team.”
Bravent’s expansion in Northern Europe will be led by Mark McCrory, who joins the firm as a partner and regional leader. Mark joins Bravent from Microsoft, where for the past 20 years he has held regional leadership positions within the Consulting Services division, most recently as COO for Microsoft Denmark. Mark has an extensive track record of working with enterprise customers to help them realize value from their Microsoft Cloud investments, experience that he will now bring to Bravent’s customers in this region.
Bravent’s decision to begin operations in Northern Europe is the result of a detailed analysis of regional technology needs and the market dynamics themselves. The company is committed to contributing to local economies and fostering relationships with regional businesses to tailor solutions that respond to their challenges and opportunities.
With this expansion, Bravent will introduce Northern Europe to its range of services, including artificial intelligence integration, cloud computing solutions and enterprise software development, all designed to leverage the technological power of Microsoft. Bravent plans to establish local offices and hire regional talent, ensuring that its solutions are both globally informed and locally tailored.
About Bravent
Bravent is a Microsoft technology consulting firm specializing in advanced artificial intelligence solutions and digital transformation strategies. With a proven track record of success and innovation, Bravent supports businesses around the globe in harnessing the power of technology to thrive in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
For more information, please visit https://www.bravent.net/en/).
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CIN7 ACQUIRES AI FORECASTING COMPANY INVENTORO, PAVING THE WAY FOR NEXT-LEVEL INTELLIGENT COMMERCE

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Leading inventory and order management software invests in growth, new AI capabilities on the heels of new CEO appointment
DENVER, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Cin7, the industry-leading inventory and order management software provider, today announced the acquisition of Inventoro, a leading provider of AI-driven sales forecasting and replenishment optimization solutions. The acquisition and integration of Inventoro’s capabilities with Cin7’s platform will extend product seller’s access to state-of-the-art AI technology, enabling customers to enhance existing inventory and order management capabilities with intelligent prediction and optimization.

Overstocking and similar inefficiencies are estimated to drive $163B in losses each year for global product sellers. The combined power of Inventoro and Cin7 can change that. Inventoro’s innovative AI-powered forecasting technology accurately predicts future product demand, providing daily updates on key optimization performance and insights on which products drive profits. Together with Cin7’s end-to-end inventory management software, sellers will gain invaluable visibility into their product availability and inventory capital.
Powered by a proprietary AI engine, sellers can forecast demand with unmatched accuracy months in advance, maintaining optimal stock levels and eliminating overages. This allows sellers to make fast, impactful decisions – enabling both short and long term forecasting that translates insight into action. Not only does this help achieve over 99% product availability, it also frees up to 20% of inventory capital and saves valuable time through automated, streamlined operations.
“Inventoro’s AI forecasting and optimization capabilities are a perfect complement to Cin7’s robust inventory management solutions,” said Ajoy Krishnamoorthy, Cin7’s CEO. “The actionable insights and increased visibility into performance provided by the combined capabilities help customers optimize performance across channels and minimize impacts from overstocking and stock outs. By combining Cin7’s inventory management platform and the power of Inventoro’s AI-powered forecasting, the future of inventory intelligence is here.” 
“From the moment we first partnered with Cin7, it was clear our companies were aligned in a mission to empower small and medium product sellers and manufacturers. By combining Cin7’s powerful inventory management platform with Inventoro’s advanced AI forecasting and optimization capabilities, we’re first to market with a solution that provides end-to-end visibility and control, reduces waste, and ultimately helps SMB’s thrive,” said Tomas Formanek, Inventoro’s founder and CEO.
This announcement comes at the dawn of a new phase of growth for Cin7, marked by the recent appointments of Ajoy Krishnamoorthy to Chief Executive Officer and Nolan Smith to President and Chief Operating Officer.
About Cin7Cin7 provides Connected Inventory Performance – cloud-based inventory management software that gives growing product businesses an automated and real-time view of the entire inventory lifecycle. Cin7’s products, Core and Omni, natively integrate with over 700+ applications, so business owners can consolidate, streamline, automate, and scale their inventory operation from one place. Founded in 2012, Cin7 has grown into a global force, supporting product sellers in 100+ countries, serving 8,000+ customers and processing over 125 million orders annually.
About InventoroInventoro is revolutionizing the way small and medium-sized businesses manage their inventory. With its cutting-edge algorithmic sales forecasting, businesses can finally achieve optimal stock levels and say goodbye to stock outs and overstock. Inventoro’s system is powered by advanced mathematics and artificial intelligence, which means it can learn and adapt to unique business needs, to achieve unprecedented forecast accuracy. Founded in 2020 as a SaaS service and built upon two decades of technological innovation.
Media ContactLindsay Mahaney [email protected]

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Potential secures additional $2M to drive AI-powered terrain perception technologies to market

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The seed fund extension will underpin innovation programs with global automotive manufacturers as momentum builds toward production-scale deployment.
$2M CAD seed round extensionRound includes returning partners Brightspark Ventures, Build Ventures and NBIF, joined by Farpointe. Existing backers include Marc Benioff’s TIME VenturesFunds will support new and ongoing innovation projects with automotive OEMsTerrain Intelligence, the company’s core technology, solves safety and performance problems both off and on roadFREDERICTON, NB, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Potential (Potential Motors Inc), a Canadian automotive technology company developing advanced driver assistance systems for off-road environments, has today announced that it has raised $2M CAD in a successful seed round extension. This builds on two previous seed round commitments, for a total of $8.5M raised since May 2020.

Investors in the extension include returning partners Brightspark Ventures, Build Ventures and NBIF (the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation), with Farpointe joining for the first time. They join existing investors, including Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures. 
The latest funding will be used to drive commercialization of Potential’s AI-powered perception solutions in automotive, powersports, mining and defense sectors, following years of intensive R&D. 
Potential has already partnered with a major manufacturer of recreational off-road vehicles (CFMOTO Powersports Inc) and delivered its first innovation project for a global automotive brand. The company has another pilot project in the automotive sector underway in Q2, with further projects at scoping stage. 
Potential’s core technology is branded Terrain Intelligence. This software platform uses forward-facing sensors (such as cameras) to interpret terrain shape, incline gradient, surface type, obstacles and more. The platform can deliver multiple outputs, from presenting data to drivers all the way through to self-selecting vehicle control adjustments such as drive mode, suspension and differential settings, torque levels and more. 
Unlike today’s driver assistance systems, which rely on reactive technologies, Potential enables proactive control in advance of reaching hazards. 
Sam Poirier, CEO at Potential: “Potential’s expertise in off-road terrain, computer vision and AI will make vehicles safer, faster, more agile and more comfortable in extreme environments. Our solutions can improve outcomes on the road too, so our technology could be used in all sorts of vehicles. I’m pleased to welcome back existing partners as well as new investors at this critical milestone in our journey.”
Mark Skapinker, Managing Partner at Brightspark Ventures: “When we first invested in Potential, we were excited by Sam’s vision of a future where AI and terrain perception technologies play key roles in performance, safety and efficiency. By renewing our investment, we’re also renewing our vote of confidence in Sam’s leadership and Potential’s technology.” 
Jeff White, CEO at NBIF: “Sam has already built an impressive team and successful pilots; our new funding commitment demonstrates the continued confidence we have in Sam’s vision and Potential’s opportunities.”
About PotentialPotential (Potential Motors Inc.) is an automotive technology company designing the future of advanced driver-assistance systems for off-road and extreme environments, combining computer vision and AI to read the path ahead.
www.potentialmotors.com
Press contact: Jay Nickerson, [email protected]
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