Alternative investing service NSR Invest will combine with roboadvisory LendingRobot to form a new roboadvisor platform in the alternative lending space, the companies said today.
“The two companies were formed with very similar services in mind,” Bo Brustkern, CEO of NSR Invest, told Bank Innovation. “NSR was a tool for the more sophisticated investor, the tinkerer who really wanted to have their hands on the investment process. LendingRobot was built less for the tinkerer, more for the everyday investor,” What we want to do is keep the best of both.”
NSR Invest’s parent company, Lend Core LLC, acquired the parent company of LendingRobot, Algorithmic Inc. leading to the merger between NSR and LendingRobot. The acquisition amount was not disclosed. In the short term, the two services will continue to operate on their own as two independent brands.
For now, the combined entity will focus its attention on the LendingRobot Series fund, said Emmanual Marot, CEO of LendingRobot. The Series is a robo-fund which allows clients more flexibility than a traditional fund.
“It’s a one-step solution. People can invest in multiple platforms at once, and it’s structured like a private fund,” Marot told Bank Innovation, of the Series. “Investors can choose aggressive or conservative, short-term, long-term, and every Wednesday we send an update of what’s happening in the fund. We notarize those records and embed them on the blockchain for full transparency.”
Currently, NSR Invest and LendingRobot have a combined 10,000 clients, according to Brustkern, excluding clients who doubled up, with accounts on both services.
“In the future, we will consolidate the brands, the technology, and we will have a single unified [platform],” said Brustkern. “We want to create the best possible expansion of the service.”
Brustkern will serve as CEO for the combined companies, while Marot will stay on as a special advisor.