M&G Backs $267m Deal to Scale Seeker Music’s Royalties Portfolio
London‑based M&G Investments arranged a $267 million asset‑backed securitisation for Seeker Music, a fast‑growing music publishing firm. The financing gives Seeker the capital to expand its catalogue, which now exceeds $400 million in value and contains over 19,000 copyrights. M&G’s £10.4 billion (≈$13.2 billion) structured finance team structured the deal, with Barclays as lead agent and MUFG as joint placement agent. The transaction aims to deliver uncorrelated, long‑term returns for M&G’s clients while accelerating Seeker’s creator‑led growth model.
KBC Selects Taurus as Custodian for Crypto Trading Offering
KBC, Belgium’s largest insurance‑banking group, has appointed Geneva‑based fintech Taurus as its custody partner for a newly launched regulated crypto trading service. The offering, introduced in February, lets self‑directed investors buy and sell Bitcoin and Ether on an execution‑only basis....
Royal London: 80% of Funds Beat Benchmarks
Royal London reported that 80% of its actively managed funds outperformed three‑year benchmarks on an equally weighted basis, and 51% beat benchmarks when weighted by assets under management. Operating profit rose 18% in 2025, driven by strong performance in pensions,...
WisdomTree Launches India Earnings ETF
WisdomTree has introduced the WisdomTree India Earnings UCITS ETF, an earnings‑weighted fund that tracks the proprietary WisdomTree India Earnings Index. The ETF carries a 0.55% total expense ratio and is listed on Xetra, Borsa Italiana, SIX Swiss Exchange and the...
Nomura Appoints Sustainable Equities Head
Nomura Asset Management has named Nick Henderson as head of global sustainable equities and lead portfolio manager of its Global Sustainable Equity Strategy, including the Ireland‑domiciled fund. The London‑based appointment reports to Richard Kruse and adds to a team that...
Defence Tech Emerges as Strategic Allocation
European defence spending is entering a structural re‑armament phase, with global military outlays reaching a record $2.7 trillion in 2024. NATO members have agreed to raise defence budgets to 5% of GDP, allocating 1.5% to cyber, AI and other non‑traditional domains....
Vanguard Teams with Wellington to Launch Blended Model Portfolio Range
Vanguard has introduced a blended model portfolio service (MPS) for UK financial advisers, offering five low‑cost portfolios that combine active and index strategies. The partnership taps Wellington Management’s research to set asset allocations, ranging from 20% to 100% equity exposure....
WisdomTree Launches Humanoid ETF
WisdomTree announced the launch of a new exchange‑traded fund focused on humanoid robotics, marking the first ETF of its kind. The fund will track a basket of companies developing human‑like robots for industrial, service and consumer applications. WisdomTree expects to...
Mondrian Picks FundGuard to Update Investment Ledger
Mondrian, a European asset manager, has selected FundGuard’s cloud‑based investment ledger to replace its legacy accounting system. The new platform will provide real‑time transaction processing, automated regulatory reporting, and seamless integration with tokenisation workflows. Migration includes historic data transfer and...