Vontobel: cosmofunding is digital platform for private placements

Zurich (CH) — Vonto­bel is revo­lu­tio­ni­zing the growing market for finan­cing with the first online plat­form Cosmo­fun­ding, which also allows secu­ri­tiza­tion as a secu­rity for custo­mi­zed finan­cing. This repres­ents a decisive step towards the complete digi­tiza­tion of the capi­tal market. Via Cosmo­fun­ding, public-sector enti­ties such as muni­ci­pa­li­ties, as well as SMEs, are to gain access to a broad base of insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors through Vonto­bel, accor­ding to the busi­ness idea behind the digi­tal inno­va­tion. Vontobel’s long-stan­­ding market exper­tise and tech­no­logy leader­ship in the plat­form busi­ness, toge­ther with the exper­tise of FINMA-reco­­g­ni­­zed Swiss rating agency feda­fin AG, enables borro­wers and inves­tors to create substan­tial added value through Cosmo­fun­ding.

The market for corpo­rate and public-sector finan­cing has chan­ged signi­fi­cantly in recent years. Incre­asingly, the public sector is turning to shorter-term and chea­per finan­cing via insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors, who are looking for invest­ment alter­na­ti­ves due to the prevai­ling low inte­rest rate envi­ron­ment. The result is growth in the private place­ment segment.

Vonto­bel is lever­aging the oppor­tu­ni­ties offe­red by digi­ta­liza­tion to revo­lu­tio­nize exis­ting market struc­tures and proces­ses, ther­eby incre­asing trans­pa­rency and reach in this area. Online plat­forms for private place­ments or loans are ideal because they bring toge­ther the inte­rests of profes­sio­nal inves­tors and borro­wers quickly, trans­par­ently and cost-effectively:
Insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors thus have access to inte­res­t­ing finan­cing projects from public-sector enti­ties such as cities and muni­ci­pa­li­ties that were previously not present on the capi­tal markets. Through Vontobel’s new online plat­form cosmo­fun­ding , the public sector — as well as medium-sized SMEs — can reach a larger circle of profes­sio­nal inves­tors and thus tailor their finan­cing to their indi­vi­dual needs in terms of volume, term, form of finan­cing and, due to the increased trans­pa­rency, also the prices.

Vonto­bel has laun­ched cosmo­fun­ding, the first online plat­form for private place­ments in Switz­er­land, which combi­nes many years of market exper­tise with its own tech­no­lo­gi­cal leader­ship to offer added value for end clients. “Behind cosmo­fun­ding stands Vonto­bel as a rock-solid and prudent Swiss finan­cial services provi­der with proven fixed income exper­tise and a broad base of insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors from our advi­sory acti­vi­ties. Based on our many years of expe­ri­ence in the plat­form busi­ness, with cosmo­fun­ding we anti­ci­pate the needs of end clients such as auto­ma­ted secu­ri­tiza­tion of finan­cing in all major curren­cies and thus offer a fully auto­ma­ted and user-friendly process,” says Roger Studer, Head of Vonto­bel Invest­ment Banking.

In this area, Vonto­bel works exclu­si­vely with feda­fin, the inde­pen­dent, first and only FINMA-appro­­ved Swiss rating agency. “For many insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors, a feda­fin rating is a prere­qui­site for conclu­ding a private place­ment or a loan, as it provi­des them with secu­rity with regard to the credit­wort­hi­ness of the issuer and the issue. In addi­tion to curr­ently more than 320 compa­nies of various sizes, we cover 2,200 Swiss muni­ci­pa­li­ties and cantons, which corre­sponds to a coverage of 95 percent of the market,” adds Dr. Adrian Ober­lin, Mana­ging Direc­tor of fedafin.

Cosmo­fun­ding is web-based and license-free. Market parti­ci­pants receive non-binding access to the plat­form via perso­nal login, which, like all Vonto­bel plat­forms, meets the highest secu­rity stan­dards. Debtors and capi­tal provi­ders can now regis­ter at www.cosmofunding.com. The go-live of cosmo­fun­ding will be on Septem­ber 3, 2018.

Vonto­bel Invest­ment Banking
Vonto­bel Invest­ment Banking crea­tes specia­li­zed finan­cial solu­ti­ons for the invest­ment needs of private and profes­sio­nal clients. We follow a custo­­mer-centric digi­tal busi­ness model, manage risks carefully, and drive our custo­mers forward with compel­ling service packa­ges. In doing so, it is central for us to under­stand our custo­mers’ needs from the ground up. We use our expert know­ledge to iden­tify trend breaks, risks and oppor­tu­ni­ties at an early stage and use them to deve­lop promi­sing solu­ti­ons for you. We do only what we know how to do and pursue oppor­tu­ni­ties that convince us. We make our decis­i­ons thoughtfully and act decisi­vely. We are proud of our specia­li­zed range of products and services. It includes struc­tu­red products, tran­sac­tion banking, corpo­rate finance, brokerage and solu­ti­ons for exter­nal invest­ment advi­sors as well as digi­tal plat­forms. We regu­larly receive awards for our rese­arch exper­tise. This is how we create added value for you.