FNZ, THE global platform as a service (PaaS) company, is to grow its already significant Scottish presence by establishing a new operations centre in Dundee and adding more than 200 roles across Edinburgh and the City of Discovery.
The fast-growing fintech firm, which serves many of the world’s largest financial services companies, opened its new Dundee operations centre earlier this year and continues to invest in its Edinburgh headquarters.
FNZ will initially create 50 investment operation positions in Dundee as part of a wider recruitment programme that will see more than 200 new roles in Scotland over the next two years.
FNZ was founded in New Zealand in 2004 by chief executive Adrian Durham, but quickly expanded to Scotland in 2005, establishing a headquarters in Edinburgh’s Tanfield, the former home of Standard Life, a longstanding FNZ client.
FNZ now employs around 500 people in Edinburgh and the company counts more than 60 of the world’s foremost financial institutions among its clients, with responsibility for £400 billion in assets under administration for around eight million customers.
Adrian Durham, chief executive of FNZ Group, said: “Our commitment to Scotland is unwavering. The business has thrived here over the last decade-and-a-half, thanks to the combination of talent, customers and infrastructure we have been able to access, and Scotland will be central to the next phase of our global growth over the next 15 years and beyond.
“Our expansion into Dundee, which has undergone significant redevelopment and offers a strong talent pool, is testament to this commitment. We look forward to Scotland continuing to provide the platform for our ambitious growth strategy and enabling FNZ to help more people achieve their financial goals.”
The firm’s enhanced global graduate programme, unveiled in March 2019, aims to attract and nurture the best young talent. Many of those graduates will be based in Scotland, where they will be given the opportunity to evolve their knowledge and skills whilst working with some of the largest financial institutions.
The company became the first Scottish-based fintech firm to achieve “unicorn” status in October 2018 when the sustainable equity partnership of Generation Investment Management LLP and Canadian pension fund Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec combined to acquire the stakes previously owned by General Atlantic and H.I.G. Capital. That deal valued the company at £1.7 billion, less than 15 years after it was founded.
Adrian Durham said: “The question we asked when launching FNZ was how can technology solve the problems faced by consumers of long-term savings products? We knew then, and it’s still true today, that technology is the key to unlocking many of the solutions to the problems typically faced by customers. Our people in Scotland are at the forefront of developing and improving that technology in line with the needs of savers and investors around the world.”
FNZ’s commitment to Scotland was rewarded towards the end of last year by trade body Scottish Financial Enterprise, which awarded the firm its ‘Impact and Investment’ award in recognition of the company’s “impressive growth and contribution to Scotland’s standing as a world-leading financial services centre.” The award also highlighted FNZ’s commitment to making a social impact.
