Enhanced Security: Introducing KBC as Our New Custodian

Protecting your invested assets is of utmost importance to us. That’s why we have implemented several mechanisms to ensure the safety of your funds. We are a part of a deposit guarantee scheme that insures your wealth up to 50,000 euros. Additionally, we are licensed and supervised by the National Bank of Slovakia and by Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego from Poland, have repeatedly strengthened our capital position, and successfully passed an IT audit and cyber security tests.

In line with these measures, we place great emphasis on the safe custody of your assets. Brokers are obliged by law to keep client assets separate from the company's funds. This means that the ETFs comprising your portfolio are held in a separate account at a specialized firm called the custodian.

We are constantly seeking opportunities to enhance our security partnerships. Managing over half a billion euros is a significant commitment, and we are determined not to let down the trust our clients have placed in us. Therefore, we have dedicated over two years to finding a custodian that belongs to the elite European custodial institutions. Personally, I have invested countless hours into this project.

This process was not easy. I have personally committed to the project of finding a sound custody of clients’ assets. We have contacted over 10 biggest custody providers in Europe. Unfortunately, our size of 300-400 million euros was so small in global terms that we couldn’t even fulfil the minimum size requirements mandated by many players.

However, in this respect, I have the same personality as my brother Dominik. I never give up. I devoted hundreds of hours to this project, tens of meetings, hundreds of emails. Finax had to undergo extreme due diligence measures. But the result is worth it.

Finally, I am delighted to announce that we have successfully fulfilled our mission of securing a top custodian for your wealth: KBC Bank. It is the second largest Belgian bank and the owner of several banks in Central Europe, e.g. ČSOB in Czechia and Slovakia or K&H Bank in Hungary.

The purpose of this article is to introduce you to our new custodian. We believe that this development will assure you that the security of your investments has been once again elevated to the next level.

Reliable Partner in Asset Custody

KBC Bank is a key player in the securities-processing market. As of the end of 2022, its division focused on processing securities oversaw close to 300 billion euros in assets under custody, covering securities markets in 48 countries. It handles a transaction volume of up to 45 billion euros. If you wish to learn more about the various services it provides, please visit this website.

KBC's brokerage and custody solutions have attracted numerous banks and non-banking financial institutions across the Benelux and Central Europe. It serves many of the markets in which Finax operates, providing custody services to major regional players.

For example, one prominent member of the KBC Group in Slovakia and the Czech Republic is ČSOB, one of the largest banks in both countries. Many well-established Slovak asset management giants, including the pension management companies of Tatra banka and Kooperativa, as well as the investment manager IAD, use ČSOB as their custodian.

KBC also considers other Central and Eastern European markets as core countries for its custody services. It offers them in the Czech Republic (where many mutual funds use ČSOB as their depository institution), Hungary, and Bulgaria. In Poland, KBC is popular for its brokerage services (for instance, mBank or DM BOŚ use it as its broker for foreign transactions).

As you can see, the level of custodian security at Finax now matches that of the largest investment institutions, such as banks and pension management companies. You can rest assured that your money is secure with us.

We have taught our clients that diversification is a key feature of any intelligent investment basket. You do not want to have all eggs in the same basket, which is why we use multiple index ETF funds to achieve a complete diversification of assets.

However, we felt that some clients also diversified their investments across investment providers. In this respect we have now created a so called “armoured” basket, that is capable of protecting all your eggs safely.

So, if you previously invested with multiple providers due to such concerns, you are welcome now to transfer all investments to the armoured Finax basket. We will reward you for the transfer.

We believe this news will increase your confidence in the safety of your savings. We greatly appreciate the trust our clients consistently place in us, and we are committed to maintaining it by implementing similar security enhancements. To learn more about the various ways in which Finax protects your investments, please visit the dedicated subpage of our website.

Thank you for your trust in Intelligent Investing.