UBS (SWX: UBSG) announced that UBS Next, the company’s $200 million strategic Fintech portfolio, has invested in US-headquartered firm Trust & Will, a digital estate planning platform.
Launched in October 2020, UBS Next identifies various opportunities within the start-up ecosystem and “further enhances UBS’s technology-driven growth through partnerships and strategic investments.”
This investment is the latest in “a series of investments made by UBS Next in areas ranging from distributed ledger technology to digital wealth advisory,” the update confirmed.
Mike Dargan, UBS Group Chief Digital and Information Officer, stated:
“Trust & Will’s platform helps to further digitalize and personalize an increasingly important aspect of wealth management: estate planning. With this investment, we are exploring services beyond banking where we can partner to deliver real value for our firm.”
Trust & Will’s platform aims to offer “an easy, fast, and secure way to set up trusts, wills, and guardianships online in the US.” The firm’s platform modernizes estate planning with a design-first approach, “layered on top of customer support that helps families customize documents to meet their needs, while ensuring they adhere to individual state guidelines.”
Cody Barbo, Founder and CEO of Trust & Will, remarked:
“With their investment and expert guidance, we will continue to develop innovative solutions to better serve our members and make creating a legacy, an accessible and achievable feat for American families.”
UBS Next allows UBS to engage with Fintechs, “accelerate innovation efforts, and shape the future of banking for the benefit of UBS clients.”
The investment platform mainly “pursues minority, direct investments into early stage (series A and series B) fintech and technology companies with strategic and financial relevance (i.e., direct business or client impact or catalyst for platform/process improvements).”
As noted by its management, Trust & Will is “making estate planning simple, affordable, and accessible with a design-first approach and amazing customer support.” They claim to have tens of thousands of “happy customers” using their complete suite of products nationwide. They’re “enabling every American to create a plan that fits their family, their life, and their legacy.”
They’re backed by venture capital firms such as Revolution’s Rise of the Rest, Western Technology Investments, Luma Launch, Halogen Ventures, and Techstars, as well as “a prominent list of angel investors who all believe in our mission to help everyone leave a legacy they can be proud of.”