Quebec’s public pension manager is taking a firmer hand at FNZ, the London-based wealth technology group, after losing patience with how the business has been run.
According to the FT, which cited four people familiar with the matter, La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec — FNZ’s largest shareholder — pressed for the removal of chief executive Blythe Masters.
Her exit was disclosed last month. Masters, who declined to comment to the paper, had been brought in to lead a turnaround.
The intervention is being read as a case of a major institutional owner stepping deep into the management of a struggling private fintech.
The piece was also flagged by FT’s Roula Khalaf.
The reset is not limited to the top job.
Three of the people briefed on the situation said FNZ is preparing to move group president Roman Regelman aside.
Regelman, regarded as an ally of Masters, is also a partner at Motive Partners, the private-equity firm associated with her and itself an FNZ investor.
He declined to comment.
A person close to the company disputed the idea that he is being pushed out, saying instead that his remit will change focus and be reshaped, while he retains his title.
An internal FNZ memo reviewed by the FT says he will stay on to advise Stephen Welch, the new group chair and interim chief executive.
Welch, a restructuring specialist, was named group chair in August and has already brought La Caisse-linked directors onto the board.
Someone familiar with the plans said the board is expected to shrink and concentrate under his leadership.
La Caisse chief executive Charles Emond has already framed the chair change in operating terms.
On an earnings call he said a new chair was installed because the situation presents many challenges, and that Welch is not merely a governance figure but an operating chair with relevant experience.
Emond has argued that the board must push FNZ toward a more durable and mature model.
He has described the product as strong while pointing to a high rate of cash consumption.
FNZ’s own account is narrower.
The company said Welch’s appointment shows the board’s determination to speed up its strategic transformation program, and that the board and Masters believe the leadership change best supports the next stage of that plan.
The group sells software that lets large financial institutions — among them Barclays, Santander and Aviva — administer savings for millions of customers.
At the height of the fintech boom in 2022 it was valued at about $20 billion. Since then the economics have deteriorated.
Pre-tax losses last year reached $1.4 billion, nearly twice the prior year.
People close to the company say FNZ spent too heavily on acquisitions from 2018 onward.
Others familiar with the business say its tailored platform has been costly to rework for each client.
Capital has been raised from investors four times since 2024, most recently in September.
Those rounds prompted a lawsuit by employee shareholders, who argue their stakes were diluted in favor of institutional holders.
Filings for 2025 show interest expense up 29 per cent to $205 million as the group added debt even while raising more than $1 billion of new equity.
Staff costs rose by $80 million in a year, and platform costs increased by more than $100 million between 2024 and 2025.
Mike Stevens, a former FNZ employee and shareholder involved in the claim, said it is encouraging that La Caisse is taking a more active role in strengthening the company over the long term, and that the board and management changes signal a real commitment to governance, performance and stability.
FNZ has called the claim wholly without merit and said its directors have acted in the best interests of the company, its clients, employees and other stakeholders. The group says the plan is starting to show results and is aiming for positive cash flow in the second half of 2027.