Irwin Mitchell’s London Corporate team advises on transaction

HANetf, Europe’s first independent ‘white-label’ UCITS ETF platform, has completed its second oversubscribed funding round.

This latest fundraising brings on board ThirdStream Partners, Barclays Global Investors (BGI)/iShares and includes BGI’s ex-CEO Blake Grossman, founder of ETF.com Jim Wiandt, and Roger Hodenius, co-founder of liquidity provider Flow Traders. 

It follows the first successful fundraise in December 2017 (which Irwin Mitchell also advised on) and is aimed at taking advantage of current growth prospects and expediting the development and growth of HANetf’s platform including sales, distribution, product management, marketing and PR.

HANetf expects to increase staff numbers by nearly 50% in 2019 and add around 10-15 ETFs per annum. 

2018 saw HANetf launch its first three ETFs (EMQQ Emerging Markets Internet and Ecommerce ETF, HAN-GINS Cloud Technology ETF and HAN-GINS Global Innovative Technology ETF) on three major markets in London, Italy and Germany. 

HANetf provides the complete technical, regulatory and distribution infrastructure needed to successfully launch and manage UCITS ETFs without asset managers having to develop in-house infrastructure or incur a substantial cost base. 

Nik Bienkowski, founder and co-CEO of HANetf, said: “2018 was a milestone year for HANetf, and the European asset management as a whole. By launching Europe’s first ‘white labelled’ ETF, and following it up with a further two, highlights the desire from asset managers to enter the market, and an understanding of the benefits ETFs bring.”

“We are delighted to have completed another oversubscribed funding round, and to bring on some investors with significant expertise in the industry. Along with our rebrand, this is an incredible exciting time for HANetf. We expect 2019 to be another fruitful year for the industry and with demand increasing, we fully expect more businesses to be considering a move towards ETFs and the European market.” 

Corporate partner, James Paton-Philip, and corporate solicitor, Jeff Carvell, both from the London office of law firm Irwin Mitchell, advised HANetf on each of its fundraisings.

Expert Opinion

“We are very pleased to have advised HANetf on its latest fundraise and completion of this transaction highlights our expertise in supporting fast growth businesses.” James Paton-Philip - Partner