Ascend Asia acquires three more financial advisory firms

ASCEND Asia, a KKR-backed holding company, has acquired three more financial (FA) advisory firms, taking Ascend Asiachief executive Tomas Urbanec closer to his goal of building a network of FA firms that operate on the premise of an “open architecture” in terms of distribution and product sourcing.

The first acquisition was finexis last year. The three new acquisitions are Promiseland Financial Advisory, Infinity Financial Advisory and SG alliance. The group now has a total of over 2,000 advisers, and a combined asset under advisory of around S$3 billion.

The deal has obtained regulatory approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The acquisitions are done through Ascend Asia Singapore Advisory, a subsidiary of Ascend Asia.

Urbanec said: “Our excitement really stems from the fact that the (acquisitions) really give us scale and begins to position Ascend Asia to be a meaningful player in the ecosystem, to expand the concept of open architecture to more and more consumers.

“We have a size and scale to allow us to work with our insurance partners to really think about unique product ideation and gives us the reach across the customer base to introduce even more new and exciting products to the market.”

Open architecture simply means a company is not restricted to offering proprietary products, but also onboards third-party products subject to its own due diligence. This is the typical mode of operation among most banks for investment products. It gives clients the flexibility of choice and addresses potential conflicts of interest which may arise with proprietary products.

The insurance landscape, however, is dominated by large, tied agencies that sell only their principal’s brand. Several insurers here have also set up their own FA subsidiaries, which may be tied in terms of insurance products. Even bancassurance partnerships with larger banks appear to be mostly exclusive.

KKR announced the formation of Ascend Asia Financial Services last July as an investment by its Asia Fund IV. Ascend Asia offers the firms under its wing a platform, providing “industrial-grade” compliance tools, operational support, infrastructure plus growth capital for expansion. Ascend Asia’s subsidiaries include Ascend Asia Asset Management and Ascend Asia Corporate Services to provide operational and tech solutions to member firms.

Ascend Asia Asset Management was the rebranded asset management arm of finexis, with assets under management “approaching” S$500 million.

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Urbanec says there are around 60 licensed FA firms in Singapore, ranging from smaller firms with less than a handful of advisers to those with more than 1,000 FA representatives.

In its model, Ascend Asia acquires full ownership of the firms on the platform, and retains the firms’ management. Each company’s brand, Urbanec said, is “enormously valuable”. There is no change to existing client relationships or agreements.

“It’s important that over time a customer sees (the acquired firm) as a member of Ascend Asia and there is a level of professionalism that, we think, will embed itself into consumers’ thinking… I’m not interested in replacing teams. I’m interested in acquiring someone with an operating style that works for us.”

Urbanec believes that as Singapore households grow in wealth, they are better served by advisory firms with an open architecture model “because competition spurs product innovation and price discovery”.

Singapore households’ net wealth has grown from around S$530,000 in 2005 to S$2.7 million at end-2025. The growth in wealth, he said, requires “more bespoke planning, not a one-size-fits-all model”. “But when you look at where the market still is, the single-provider model still dominates... More sophisticated products and services can only be realised in an environment where the financial adviser has access to more product providers.”

The share represented by cash (currency and deposits) of Singapore households’ assets came to around S$700,000 at end-2025, compared to S$148,000 at end-2005 – a growth of 4.7 times. Stocks’ share, in contrast has grown 2.4 times over the 20 years, from S$121,000 to S$415,000.

“If there’s one problem or opportunity to solve, it’s the continued need for Singaporeans to generate a greater return on their assets. We talk about the growth in household wealth, but nothing has grown faster than cash. That, to me, is symptomatic of the single-provider model which is characterised by transactions.

“Transactions are based on sales of products, but the sale of services is entirely based on relationships. That cash in bank continues to grow is symptomatic of not having a plan on what to do with the money.”

He said an open-architecture model is also better able to equip financial advisory firms to help clients navigate the so-called great wealth transfer currently underway, where an estimated US$6 trillion of wealth in Apac is being handed down to younger generations over the next few years.

“I’m very optimistic that our model, which puts priority on relationships will be able to provide customers with clarity on dealing with intergenerational wealth transfer. I’m extraordinarily bullish about the opportunities in Singapore over the next 20 years. Giving choice to customers creates value and value creates relationships.”

Among the acquired firms, Promiseland, founded in 1986, is the most established. SG Alliance was founded in 2021 and Infinity FA in 2023.

Promiseland founder and managing director David Choo said: “For four decades, Promiseland has been built steadily on trust, discipline and commitment to doing right by our clients... Joining Ascend Asia marks an important new chapter in our history. With this strong group behind us, we look forward to building on our foundations and continuing our journey with confidence.”

Infinity founder and chief executive Poh Choon Kia said joining Ascend Asia “allows us to amplify our impact while preserving our unit culture and service philosophy”.

Caster Ong, co-founder of SG Alliance, said: “We share Ascend Asia’s vision of bringing consumers more choice and value and joining the group is an exciting step (to) allow us to enhance our advisory offerings and continue growing with our financial consultants and clients.”