We work with growing financial services businesses at all stages of their development and have a track record that goes back over many years. 

Across the US, Europe and Asia, we see many opportunities to work with specialist players, particularly in countries such as the UK and India, where market fragmentation allows nimble players to undermine the dominance of the big financial institutions.

Some companies we’ve partnered that illustrate our approach in action include:

• Interhyp – Germany’s leading online mortgage broker.  Germany has the largest mortgage market in Europe but its mortgage broking has traditionally been fragmented.  This fact, along with the rise of the internet, enabled Interhyp to capture a market-leading share by developing a compelling model that combined online access with independent consultancy.  We initially invested in 2000.  Five years later, when Interhyp floated, its shares were 30 times oversubscribed.
• Buy As You View – UK provider of specialist consumer finance.  Through knowing its customer base intimately, Buy As You View has achieved great success in growing revenue and profits.  It extends credit to lower-income groups to enable them to buy high-quality household goods, using a coin meter which acts as an effective cash budgeting tool.  The 3i-appointed Chairman is working with the highly-experienced management team to complete the business’s pan-UK presence.
• Gruppo Assiteca – a national insurance broker in Italy.  We’ve worked with Gruppo Assiteca since 1993, supporting them through several rounds of funding and helping them recruit a new CFO.  During that time, their chain of Italian offices has expanded to 16, they’ve developed their online business and they’ve evolved an international presence through a partnership with EOS RISQ Group.   As a result, turnover has grown by more than 400%.