Wholesale trading platform AUSIEX has announced it will acquire fixed income trading business FIIG.
Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. says that AUSIEX has entered into an agreement with FIIG Holdings Limited (the holding company of FIIG Securities Limited) to acquire 100% of FIIG’s issued shares and commence the process of making it a wholly owned subsidiary of AUSIEX by the end of June 2025.
AUSIEX joined the NRI Group in May 2021 and provides a market leading wholesale trading platform and outsourced service for execution, clearing and settlement of domestic and international cash equities, and exchange traded options as well as portfolio administration.
The AUSIEX platform is built using proprietary software, including NRI’s I-STAR/GV back-office solution. AUSIEX provides value-added services to major financial institutions, financial advisers, family offices, institutional investors, self-managed super funds and other wholesale and high net worth investors in Australia.
FIIG is Australia’s largest specialist fixed income provider with over $4.5bn of funds under advice and provides investors with direct access to bond markets and a range of term deposits and other cash solutions.
AUSIEX CEO Patrick Salis says the transaction will allow the AUSIEX business to expand its range of products and services to meet the wider needs of traders, advisers and investors.
“With this move, AUSIEX expands beyond exchange-traded instruments listed on ASX & CBOE, to now also include over-the-counter (OTC) domestic and international fixed income products via the FIIG platform.
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“It will provide local institutions, financial advisers, family offices, SMSF and HNWIs with the most comprehensive investments trading and portfolio administration platform offering in the country.
“We are excited to build on an over 25-year legacy of FIIG, an independent company founded in Brisbane and welcome their staff into the NRI Group. FIIG has over 6,000 clients, and we are pleased to extend the AUSIEX vision to each of those clients of being a trusted partner behind every trade and transaction.
“This development is another sign of AUSIEX’s progress towards our long-term plan to become a market utility platform leveraging NRI’s scale and intellectual property.”
FIIG CEO Alex Welch said, “This acquisition brings together two culturally and commercially aligned businesses with highly complementary strengths.
“It marks an exciting step forward in our ambitions to make bonds accessible to Australian investors while continuing to enhance the services we deliver to our clients with even greater capabilities.”
AUSIEX’s Salis went on to say, “Our vision is to bring fixed income investing to all Australians.
“There are two pieces to that – education and access. We want to make trading bonds as easy as buying and selling BHP shares on the ASX.
“FIIG has significant upside and potential to grow to north of $100 million revenue in five years when powered by AUSIEX platform.
“It has private clients, and we see room to add relationships in the intermediary and insto space and – over the long-term – retail customers.”
AUSIEX will aim to reduce the minimum parcel size for bond trades in over-the-counter markets from $500,000 to as little as $1000.
