La Caisse and CPP Investments Overhaul FNZ's Board Amid US$4.6B Lawsuit
Major shareholders in London-based FNZ Group, including Canadian pension funds, overhauled the board of the financial software provider as they look to stabilize the company’s finances and fend off an ongoing shareholder lawsuit seeking US$4.6-billion.
FNZ provides a digital wealth management platform used by some 650 financial institutions, including North American clients such as Bank of Montreal. Two of Canada’s largest pension funds own significant stakes in the company.
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Montreal-based pension fund that manages $552-billion, is FNZ’s largest shareholder and invested early in the startup in 2018.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the country’s largest pension fund with $864-billion of assets, invested US$1.1-billion in FNZ in 2022.
Since then, the company, which was founded in 2003 in Wellington, New Zealand has run into significant challenges that include a lawsuit from minority shareholders and rising financial losses that FNZ incurred as it expanded rapidly into Europe, North America and Asia.
The overhauled board with several new directors has a mandate to revamp the company’s business model to bring it “to a more sustainable, more mature level,” Caisse chief executive officer Charles Emond said in a recent interview.
FNZ has a “great product” but also a high “cash burn rate” that needs to be reined in, he said.
Earlier this month, FNZ swapped its board chair, appointing Stephen Welch and citing his experience working with regulated financial services businesses in Britain. Previous chair Gregor Stewart is staying on the board as chair of its risk committee.
Five of the company’s 14 directors were replaced previously, including two board seats controlled by the Caisse. As of July, new appointees include Justin Shaw, an operating partner in the Caisse’s private equity division, and Denis Turcotte, managing partner of Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.
FNZ’s chief financial officer, Aashish Kamat, left the company in July after a year-and-a-half in his role.
The company reported a pre-tax loss of US$1.36-billion in 2025 – roughly double its loss in the previous year – even as revenue rose 9 per cent to US$1.13-billion, according to the company’s most recent filings.
“We brought in a new chair because we think, you know, there’s a lot of challenges in that situation,” Mr. Emond said. “He’s just not a chair there for governance. He’s really an executive chair that has experience as to how to assist us.”
Spokespeople for the Caisse and CPPIB declined to comment on the lawsuit against FNZ as it is before the court. A spokesperson for FNZ could not immediately be reached for comment.
The minority shareholder group that is suing FNZ in a New Zealand court has criticized the company’s leadership and its largest shareholders, alleging that employee morale is at a low ebb, based on internal engagement metrics.
Instead of sticking to prior cost-cutting measures, FNZ raised billions of dollars and then ramped up its spending, only to now “do another U-turn and heavily reduce costs,” FNZ co-founder Mike Stevens, a former employee who is part of the shareholder group suing the company, said in a news release.
“A number of things here simply don’t add up,” he said.
The group alleged in the lawsuit that their ownership stakes were unfairly diluted when the company raised new capital several times, starting in 2024, on terms that gave its largest investors preferential terms.
The Caisse and CPPIB participated in those fundraising rounds, including a US$650-million equity injection that was undertaken after the lawsuit was filed.
The minority shareholders are seeking US$4.6-billion in restitution. The company is contesting the lawsuit, which it says it without merit.
FNZ recently issued a press release stating it has appointed Stephen Welch as Group Chair:
- Stephen brings decades of experience working with the boards and leadership teams of regulated financial services businesses, with a track record of driving growth, operational improvement and strategic transformation.
FNZ, the leading global wealth management platform, today announced the appointment of Stephen Welch as Group Chair.
Stephen will work closely with the FNZ Board and executive team to support the Group's strategy, transformation agenda and long-term growth ambitions.
Stephen brings decades of experience working with the boards and leadership teams of regulated financial services businesses, with a track record of driving growth, operational improvement and strategic transformation.
Gregor Stewart, who has served as Group Chair since 2024, will remain a member of the Group Board and Chair of its Risk Committee. He will also assume an important new role as Senior Independent Director.
Gregor Stewart, Senior Independent Director, said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to serve FNZ in a new capacity as it continues on its transformation journey, and to welcome Stephen as new Chair. Stephen brings an impressive track record of success and skills that are highly relevant to FNZ. I look forward to working together.”
Stephen Welch, Group Chair, said: “FNZ has established itself as a global leader in wealth management technology with an exceptional platform and significant opportunities ahead. I look forward to working with the Board, Blythe and her wider leadership team, to support the delivery of the Group's strategy and pursue its long-term growth ambitions.”
Blythe Masters, Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “I am delighted to welcome Stephen as Chair of the FNZ Group Board. Stephen brings significant experience working with the boards and leadership teams of regulated, global financial services businesses. His track record of driving transformation and operational excellence will be highly valuable as FNZ continues to execute its strategy. I look forward to working closely with him.”
“On behalf of the Company, I would like to thank Gregor for his leadership as Chair, and I'm pleased that FNZ will continue to benefit from his experience, insight and counsel in his new role.”
Now, for those of you who don't know her, FNZ's CEO Blythe Masters (featured at the top of the post) is a legend in financial markets, previously heading up JPMorgan's commodities and credit divisions among other very senior responsibilities:
Blythe Masters is Chief Executive Officer of FNZ Group. She is also a Founding Partner and Industry Partner at the fintech specialized private equity and venture capital firm, Motive Partners, where she is also Chair of Motive Ventures. Additionally, she holds the position of Non-Executive Chair at J.P. Morgan Securities, PLC and sits on the board of SymphonyAI.
Prior to joining Motive, Blythe was the CEO of Digital Asset Holdings, the leading enterprise blockchain fintech company. Previously, Blythe was a member of the Corporate and Investment Bank Operating Committee and firmwide Executive Committee at J.P. Morgan. Her J.P. Morgan career spanned nearly 30 years, fulfilling several roles including Head of Global Commodities, Head of Corporate and Investment Bank Regulatory Affairs, CFO of the Global Investment Bank, Head of Global Credit Portfolio and Credit Policy and Strategy, and Head of Global Structured Credit.
Blythe is a graduate and Senior Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge where she received a B.A. in Economics.
In short, Blythe Masters was a star at JPMorgan. She rose from intern to head of Global Commodities over the span of nearly three decades. She was widely regarded as one of Wall Street’s most powerful women, and her departure from that bank was high-profile.
The lady has tremendous experience at the most powerful bank in the world and then moved on to be the CEO of Digital Asset Holdings, the leading enterprise blockchain fintech company and was also a founding partner of Motive Partners, where she is also Chair of Motive Ventures.
She's definitely no lightweight but does it mean she can properly run FNZ?
I don't know. Leading the Commodities and Credit Derivatives divisions at JPMorgan doesn't necessarily make you a great CEO of a wealth platform startup but she's impressive, no doubt about it.
I also don't know what this ongoing shareholder lawsuit seeking US$4.6-billion is all about but when I read "the minority shareholder group that is suing FNZ in a New Zealand court has criticized the company’s leadership and its largest shareholders, alleging that employee morale is at a low ebb," I tend to think that such a lawsuit is frivolous and will ultimately be dismissed in a court of law.
That's my first impression but again, I don't know the details; it just sounds outrageous to me.
Of course employee morale will be low; the company reported a pre-tax loss of US$1.36-billion in 2025 – roughly double its loss in the previous year – and they need to cut costs and shore up operations.
La Caisse and CPP Investments are continuing to participate in fundraising rounds, including a US$650-million equity injection that was undertaken after the lawsuit was filed.
These are the two largest pension funds in Canada and La Caisse CEO Charles Emond is publicly stating they believe in FNZ's platform and have undertaken board changes to shore up the company operationally.
That's the difference between investing in a public company and investing in a private startup: you have a lot more clout on what is going on at the operational level.
Below, learn more about FNZ's wealth platform.
Also, recorded live at Global Alts 2024 in Miami, Prosek Partners Founder and Managing Partner Jennifer Prosek sits down with Blythe Masters, Founding Partner of Motive Partners, for a candid fireside on a career that helped shape modern finance and a firm rebuilding what specialist private equity looks like in fintech.
Blythe walks Jennifer through the entire arc: from writing cold-call letters to London banks as a teenager, to photocopying swaps documentation at JPMorgan in 1987, to becoming one of the youngest managing directors in the firm's history, to being credited with turning credit default swaps from a hypothetical instrument into a global market, to running JPMorgan's global commodities business and its regulatory affairs function through the aftermath of the financial crisis. Then in 2014 she left to build Digital Asset, one of the earliest institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure companies, and in 2019 became a founding partner of Motive Partners.
Third, Blythe Masters a Founding Partner of Motive Partners, a $6 billion specialist private equity platform that builds, backs, and buys technology companies that enable the financial services industry. In this conversation with Ted Seides, they cover Blythe’s career trajectory at JP Morgan across asset classes, cycles, and crises and then turn to the investment model at Motive and themes in asset and wealth management.
They recorded this conversation on the iConnections Global Alts podcast stage, which explains the occasional wind gusts, airplanes overhead, sirens, and children playing in the background (March, 2024).
Lastly, and most importantly, Blythe Masters, Group CEO of FNZ, discusses leadership, wealth infrastructure, and how AI is transforming advisor productivity in a conversation with Hiten Patel on The Innovators’ Exchange podcast. Watch this interview here (2026).
Comments
Post a Comment