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The Rover Advisor brand is in flux. Recently, for example, BlackRock invested in the German provider Scalable Capital. Questions about this now for the founder and CEO, Erik Podzuweit, here on the trading floor of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Thank you for visiting, and let's be honest, Mr. Podzuweit, how did we, as a young German startup, get 30 million dollars from the most powerful asset manager on Wall Street?
Yes, that was actually a very big milestone for us this year. As Carmen, BlackRock, as the world's largest asset manager, naturally looks very closely at the asset management market and identifies trends. What they have already recognized in the USA, and are now also recognizing in Europe, is that digital asset management— that is, managing funds with technology, with software ETFs— is the future, or at least plays a significant part in the future of investing.
And yes, that's how the decision came about to invest in a digital asset manager in Europe, and then... BlackRock looked at companies across Europe, including FinnTech, and we apparently prevailed at the end of this analysis. This is, of course, a great success for us, and naturally, the money being invested in us—the €30 million capital increase—allows us to plan for the very long term and put things on a very sound footing.
You also met BlackRock CEO Larry Fink during this process. How did this meeting go for you personally? Yes, the meeting was very pleasant. You might chuckle about it now, but there are parallels between the two companies, and we discussed them with Mary Fink. What you have to understand about BlackRock is that it's not particularly old, only 29 years old— a few years older than Amazon, if you will—and also has a history in investment and technology.
Of course, BlackRock is known as a large ETF provider and asset manager, but they also have a business where they use software called Aladin, which is the leading risk management and portfolio management tool. Software for many financial institutions, and therefore there were many parallels. We preferred to discuss how we use technology for investment and how BlackRock compares.
They work on their investment processes exclusively with ETFs. This is also well-known. Are BlackRock products now being used preferentially in their portfolios for clients? Yes, the question is of course justified or even obvious. Black Hawk, with its iShares brand, is the world's largest ETF provider.
The question is, does Scalable now use exclusively BlackRock products? We are and remain 100% independent of BlackRock regarding product selection. As a minority investor, we do not want to interfere in the ETF selection, nor do we want to. We are convinced that an open platform—that is, a free selection of the cheapest and best ETFs for clients—is a business model that can become much larger than relying solely on one provider.
What I also have to say is that, of course, in an ETF universe like BlackRock iShares, ETFs will primarily be included. This is simply because BlackRock is the largest provider in Europe, and size is enormously important for ETFs. Size reduces the price, makes the products more liquid, meaning the bid-ask spreads decrease.
Therefore, BlackRock products are always included in portfolios. There's also a new partnership with the online broker ING DiBa. How did this come about? Yes, a very significant partnership for us. How did it come about? Well, ING DiBa is the largest online bank in Germany overall, and the third largest bank by customer numbers—eight and a half million customers with over 150 billion in customer assets.
They were looking for a partner to offer their customers digital asset management, based on an ETF. That was the goal, and they looked at providers across Europe. It was a very extensive process that lasted almost a year, so to speak, and we were able to establish ourselves as the recommended partner and are now the exclusive partner for...
In order to offer their existing customers digital ETF asset management, what are your initial experiences with this collaboration? We will publish concrete figures together with the company shortly. However, we can already say that it is being very well received. There is a demand for this service – a cost-effective, fully managed ETF portfolio with additional risk management using well-developed, intelligent software.
There is a high demand for this among existing customers, especially those who are digitally savvy. This has already become very evident in the first three weeks. And yes, we will publish concrete figures shortly. We wish you continued success on your journey. Scalable CEO and co-founder Erik Podzuweit in an interview on the floor of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Thank you very much.
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