Mr. Hix joins the Brady Board of Directors after a 39-year career in public companies serving a broad range of global markets. From 2016 until his retirement in 2022, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Enovis Corporation (and its predecessor Colfax Corporation) while the company transformed its industrial business portfolio to faster-growth medical technologies. Mr. Hix was the Chief Financial Officer of OM Group, Inc., a specialty materials and chemicals company, from 2012 until the company’s acquisition in late 2015. He also served as the Chief Financial Officer of Robbins & Myers, a diversified industrial company, from 2006 to 2011, during a period of significant expansion and business portfolio changes. Prior to that, Mr. Hix spent 14 years in a variety of operating, financial and strategic roles within Roper Industries (now Roper Technologies), a global, diversified industrial and technology company that underwent rapid growth and transitioned from private to public ownership during his tenure. He served on the Board of Directors of ESAB Corporation, a $3 billion revenue global industrial company, from 2021 through 2024.

Mr. Hix received a Master of Business Administration from St. Mary’s College of California and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. Early in his career he earned his public accounting certification.

“Brady is committed to drive profitable growth through innovation, research and development, investments in technology and strategic M&A to deliver shareholder value over the long-term,” said Hix. “I’m looking forward to sharing my strategic and financial insights and to working with Brady’s leadership team and its Board of Directors to continue to drive increased shareholder value.”

“Chris’ extensive financial and strategic experience as a leader at several industrial companies, where he played a key role in accelerating growth, makes him an outstanding addition to the Brady Board of Directors,” said Bradley C. Richardson, Chair of Brady’s Board of Directors.

“I am pleased to welcome Chris to Brady’s Board of Directors. His proven track record leading high-technology global businesses through periods of significant growth and his experience in M&A will be invaluable to Brady as we continue to drive both organic and inorganic long-term growth opportunities,” said Russell R. Shaller, Brady’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

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“Our continued focus is on providing advisors easy access to the tools and services they need,” said Meghan Holmes, Chief Operating Officer at AIM. “These recent additions are based on advisor-driven requests. By providing access to some of the most well-known asset managers, while also supporting smaller boutique providers, advisors have choice and flexibility in customizing a client’s overall portfolio in order to meet their needs.”

In addition to BlackRock, Dimensional, Potomac, and Invesco, AIM has also added Washington Crossing Advisors, Brentview Investment Management, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management, and Clark Capital Management to the platform since the beginning of 2024. With these new strategists, AIM currently has over 280 strategies available to financial advisors in their Nucleus Model Marketplace, from 46 asset managers – including Advyzon Investment Management.

AIM EMPOWERS ADVISORS TO WORK ON THEIR BUSINESS, NOT IN IT

Advyzon Investment Management, which launched in March of 2022, was created to allow financial advisors to be more efficient via a better integrated user experience by providing TAMP services conveniently within Advyzon’s single source code platform. AIM’s managed portfolio solutions and high touch service model allow advisors to achieve operational efficiencies along with comprehensive investment selection and modeling, while empowering them to work on their business, not in it.

Advyzon’s cloud-based platform combines portfolio management, customizable performance reporting, trading and rebalancing, client web portals, client relationship management (CRM), client billing, and document storage – plus a model marketplace with access to third party strategists via turnkey asset management with AIM – making it easy for advisors to run their financial planning and investment advisory firms while managing their client accounts with efficiency and ease. Advyzon currently serves over 1,500 advisory firms.

AIM offers risk-based models including active/passive mutual funds and ETFs, a tax-sensitive ETF only solution, an ESG active/passive model, an alternative model, and direct indexing, as well as tools and methodologies around tax optimization and tax loss harvesting. The firm has continued to build out additional investment products around all of these core offerings, as well as offer new strategies, as they’ve evolved over the course of their first year in business.

In addition to their investment offering, AIM provides a personalized service model to advisors based on their philosophy of insourcing versus outsourcing. AIM’s service team members are personally assigned to individual advisors and take the time to truly understand their businesses, helping with the heavy lifting on the whole lifecycle of an account including account opening, billing, reporting, trading, data reconciliation, and acting as a custodial liaison.

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Michelle joins Winston after serving as senior counsel for Rocket Central, the centralized hub for the Rocket Companies fintech platform, where she advised on funding strategies for the development and management of diverse financial products. She managed a broad array of corporate, capital markets, and finance transactions, including non-collateralized debt issuances, warehouse financing, structured financing, takeout investor trades, and reconstitutions for residential and other consumer financial assets.

Michelle brings extensive experience in securitization transactions and mortgage financing. She has worked with various types of residential mortgage and transition loans, including jumbo and non-QM securitization programs, second lien loans, and mortgage servicing rights. Her background also includes work in fintech and marketplace lending, where she has advised clients on the acquisition and financing of consumer finance assets, such as unsecured consumer loans and solar loans.

“I am excited to be joining the highly experienced team that Winston has assembled,” said Michelle. “A challenging interest rate and regulatory environment, coupled with continued economic uncertainty are contributing to greater complexity and higher scrutiny in the consumer finance space. I look forward to working across practice groups to deliver legal clarity, value, and practical advice necessary for client growth.”

Chris Gavin, co-chair of the Structured Finance Practice, said, “Having previously worked with Michelle, I know she will be an outstanding addition to our team and I am overjoyed to be reuniting with her at Winston.”

“With experience as both external and in-house counsel, Michelle will play an essential role in providing key guidance on new programs and investment structures for our clients dealing with quickly evolving residential mortgage matters,” said New York Office Managing Partner Mats Carlston.

“Michelle’s addition is further evidence of the quality of talent that Winston is attracting to our New York office and the firm overall,” said Winston Chairman Tom Fitzgerald and Chair-Elect Steve D’Amore. “Her background will be essential as we help clients navigate challenges brought by historically high interest rates and a constrained dealmaking environment.”

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XSquare is a next generation B2B payments fintech incorporated as a PSP in Dubai, under Dubai Economy and Tourism (DET). It has created a strong interest in its B2B propositions with customers and partner as their preferred transaction processing arm. XSquare is now building an omnichannel platform for businesses to automate their payment processes and minimize time and efficiently reconcile all their payment flows for domestic or cross Border payments, using cards or account rails. XSquare solution ensures automated flows through easy integrations with multiple ERP platforms.

B2B payments account for an estimated USD 18 trillion market in the MEA region (The Global Market is pegged at 135 Tn USD). These payment flows are coming into focus from the card schemes, banks and financial Institutions as many fintechs try to solve for parts of these flows. XSquare aims to democratize these flows giving the much- needed efficiency, time and cost savings and access to capital to the businesses thus enabling them to concentrate on their core activities.

CEO of Reltime, Marlene Julo, said, “Since the launch of our Web3 platform services and APIs, we have noted strong interest from fintech companies, retailers, neo-banks and telecom operators across multiple geographies. The demand in the MEA region has been particularly strong. Together with XSquare, we are excited to implement our platform in the high growth B2B and cross-border payments business.”

Echoing these sentiments, Narendra Nandal, Founder & CEO of XSquare, added, “Reltime’s modern Layer-1 Blockchain platform and applications will bring immense value to customers. Over recent months our team has been impressed with their SuperApps, wallet and white-label services all of which work seamlessly and are delivered through flexible business models (SaaS, PaaS, APIs). We see immense value in integrating and offering our B2B payments with Reltime’s layer-1 chain.”

The partners have already identified multiple key use cases and aim to run the first customer pilots around Summer 2024.

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The partnership will supplement Centbee’s technical team with nChain’s specialist software development team who are experts in the BSV blockchain and other services. The agreement will significantly strengthen Centbee’s technical skills, leveraging its deep experience in BSV blockchain technology.

Lorien Gamaroff, CEO of Centbee remarked, “We are very pleased to be collaborating with another leading BSV company to build the future of digital payments. The software development team will focus on building blockchain technical integrations for remittance, fiat-to-digital currency on-ramps and off-ramps and offering loyalty rewards as a service on the BSV blockchain.”

The BSV blockchain is the fastest public ledger with the capability to support over 50 000 transactions per second. Each transaction can facilitate smart contracts, transfer a secure token or create an immutable record. BSV is a digital asset that allows users to send and receive money instantly, anywhere in the world.

Centbee provides an easy-to-use consumer digital wallet (downloaded more than 100,000 times from the app stores) that leverages this technology to make sending and receiving money easy, fast and low-cost. In addition, Centbee is one of the few services that enables consumers to easily spend the BSV in their wallet, by making thousands of digital vouchers available to purchase in over 100 countries. Centbee recently launched the ability to send remittances from anywhere in the world to West and East Africa.

Christen Ager-Hanssen, CEO nChain Group, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Centbee to deepen their technical skills in order to drive adoption of the Centbee wallet across the world. By working together, we look forward to strengthening the BSV ecosystem’s suite of products and services to create real value and make the BSV blockchain the number one choice when it comes to digital payments for consumers and businesses.”

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“Our strategic initiatives will help unlock the potential of the platform that we have built thus far and help realize our long term vision to modernize private credit markets. Prior to Percent, transaction parties relied on antiquated systems and disjointed processes to manage the lifecycle of a private credit deal,” said Nelson Chu, founder and CEO of Percent. “As we further expand into the venture debt asset class, we are thrilled to be working with the Nomura team as both an investor in Percent and as a potential user of our cutting edge platform.”

Venture debt, an asset class within private credit, continues to grow in popularity and demand, especially in today’s economic climate. According to PitchBook Data, venture debt in the US totaled $17.1 billion for the first half of 2022, up almost 10% from previous years. Preqin forecasts that the broader private credit market will continue to grow, with AUM more than doubling to $2.69 trillion by 2026, putting it on track to become the second-largest private capital asset class.

Percent is meeting this demand, and has modernized the industry by bringing public market efficiencies to private debt markets through its technology. By powering the sourcing, structuring, syndication, surveillance, and servicing of private credit transactions from beginning to end, the company allows participants to work more efficiently and transparently.

To date, Percent has closed over 390 deals and powered over $1 billion in investments on its platform since the company launched its first deal in 2019. Meanwhile, the historical average APY for investments on Percent’s platform currently sits at 12.48%, while its current average APY is at 14.91%, presenting an extremely attractive opportunity for investors against the current market backdrop.

“We invest capital and also support the business-development objectives of startups,” said Neeraj Hora, CEO of NSV. “We look forward to collaborating with Percent to explore primary and secondary distribution.”

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Fiori Financial Group will transition all client assets from Raymond James Financial Services to Goldman Sachs’s custody platform for independent registered investment advisors (RIAs).

Fiori Financial Group is led by partners Margaux Fiori, CDFA®, and Scott Verlangieri, AIF ®, who collectively have 44 years of experience in the industry. Serving as a multi-family office style firm, they are joined by a team of experienced professionals who support the evolving investment and comprehensive planning needs of their high-net-worth clients.

“When evaluating our options, we found that Goldman Sachs Advisor Solutions encompassed everything we were looking for in a custodial relationship. We will have access to some of Wall Street’s most sophisticated wealth management solutions in a digital, open-architecture platform. We’re excited to continue to raise the bar for our clients because now we feel like the sky is the limit,” said Margaux Fiori, CDFA®, CEO and 2020, 2021 and 2022 Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisor and Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisor.

Together, Margaux Fiori and Scott Verlangieri spent the past 18 years building a firm that puts family and loyalty at the center of their client relationships. “We are eager to embark on this next chapter for Fiori Financial Group together with our clients,” said Scott Verlangieri. “Our relationship with Goldman Sachs Advisor Solutions helps us elevate client relationships while also supporting strategic growth.”

“Goldman Sachs Advisor Solutions is built to provide independent advisors with access to institutional-grade products and services,” said Bill Dalton, Head of New Business at Goldman Sachs Advisor Solutions. “We share in Fiori Financial Group’s passion for the success of their clients and are excited for the future of our relationship.”

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“We are pleased to welcome the Patriot family to Cetera as a valued partner who shares our client-first mindset and growth aspirations,” said John Pierce, head of business development at Cetera. “As we continue to evolve our strategies to help advisors and firms meet their goals, this partnership is focused on growth and designed to help both firms thrive for the long-term.”

“We are delighted to enter into this strategic business venture with an industry leader in Cetera, which has proven resources and expertise to support and elevate our market penetration and position,” said David M. O’Donnell, LUTCF, chairman of TPFG, who founded the firm 18 years ago. “With access to leading solutions on our RIA platform and Cetera as our new broker-dealer platform, our reps are well equipped to best serve their clients with best-in-class resources, tools and support. We are excited about the future under this partnership.”

“Flexibility has long been a hallmark of TPFG, and this partnership with Cetera provides even greater flexibility for our advisors to best serve their clients,” said Michael Tashjian, CEO of TPFG. “Like Cetera, we are agnostic about how our advisors affiliate their business to deliver the best service, solutions and guidance. We believe that this model provides a powerful combination of options that will serve our advisors and their clients well for years to come.”

“We welcome the Patriot team to Cetera and look forward to a prosperous, long-term partnership,” said Ron Krueger, president of Cetera Financial Specialists. “We are confident that by pairing Cetera’s resources with the Cetera Financial Specialists culture and community, the Patriot team will be positioned well to elevate their business to achieve their long-term goals while best serving their clients. We are excited to collaborate with Dave, Mike and their talented team and look forward to growing and achieving our goals together.”

The affiliation with TPFG rounds out a record year of recruiting and business development for Cetera. Cetera posted record quarters in Q2 and Q3 of 2022, most recently attracting $6.3 billion in assets through recruiting efforts in the third quarter.

Click here to learn more about Cetera Financial Specialists, and click here to learn more about TPFG.

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CFM is a Colorado-based independent registered investment advisor (RIA) offering comprehensive financial planning and personalized investment management. Founded in 1988, CFM has cultivated deep roots across the Colorado community, with offices in Denver, Boulder, and Loveland, as well as recognition as one of Boulder’s oldest and largest RIAs. The firm’s 26 advisors, professionals, and associates, all of whom will remain following the transaction, manage approximately $2 billion in assets on behalf of a diverse group of primarily high-net-worth individuals, families, and institutions across Colorado and the United States.

“At Lido, we’re always looking for entrepreneurial and culturally aligned partners who can help us continue to build a preeminent wealth management firm,” said Jason Ozur, Lido’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are not motivated to achieve scale for the sake of scale. Instead, we seek firms that want to be true partners with a voice and the opportunity to be additive to Lido’s evolution. CFM’s growth-focused, tenured, and highly credentialed team is exactly that type of firm.”

Ken Stern, President of Lido Advisors, added, “We couldn’t have found a better partner to help Lido deepen its presence in the Mountain West. Managing the complexities of growing and protecting clients’ legacies is extremely challenging, requiring a team with skill, experience and passion. We look forward to joining forces with CFM and making a difference for our clients, our team, and our communities.”

“We chose to partner with Lido because of the strong alignment between our firms. Like CFM, Lido has a client-centric approach that considers estate, tax, and investment management with care and transparency for every client,” said Brad Bickham, Managing Partner of CFM. “Lido’s family office approach and commitment to partnership deeply resonated with our team and our vision for our clients. We look forward to staying true to our roots as a local fiduciary while generating a greater impact for our clients’ lives and legacies.”

The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2023, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo, P.C. served as legal counsel to Lido. David Selig of Advice Dynamics Partners LLC served as the exclusive financial advisor to CFM, and Hanson Bridgett LLP served as its legal counsel.

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Fidelity Private Credit Fund will be managed by Fidelity Diversifying Solutions LLC***, an investment adviser that was established to support the growth of Fidelity’s alternative investment capabilities and development of alternative products and solutions.

“With the launch of Fidelity Private Credit Fund, Fidelity leverages the depth and breadth of our credit-focused resources to offer our clients an income-oriented strategy in the private credit markets,” said David Gaito, portfolio manager of Fidelity Private Credit Fund and head of Direct Lending at Fidelity Investments. “We continue to see significant growth in the private credit market and Fidelity’s direct lending team aims to use our extensive network to access high credit quality investment opportunities.”

Fidelity established its direct lending business in 2021 and the team, including portfolio managers David Gaito, Therese Icuss, and Jeffrey Scott, continues to grow. The portfolio management team, with 20-plus average years of middle market lending experience, has sourced, underwritten, or managed diverse credit and lending teams in a variety of market environments. The team is backed by Fidelity’s 50-plus years in the credit markets and more than $620 billionⁱ in credit investments under management.

“Our portfolio management team is able to leverage the resources of our globally integrated investment organization and the breadth of Fidelity’s retail and institutional distribution businesses, while we continue to expand and strengthen our direct lending investment capabilities and team,” continued Gaito.

The Fidelity Private Credit Fund’s investment objective is to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation. The fund intends to pursue these objectives primarily through directly originated loans to private companies as well as other select private credit investments. The Fidelity portfolio management team seeks to employ a rigorous and consistent due diligence process when assessing each individual issuer. The team intends to evaluate each issuers’ ownership and management team, business model, competitive differentiation, historical and projected financial performance, cost structure, key customers and key suppliers, and position within its industry.

The Fidelity Private Credit Fund will be available to intermediary clients for seamless digital transaction through Fidelity Institutional’s Alternative Investments Platform via +SUBSCRIBE at launch, and iCapital shortly after. The fund is also expected to be available via CAIS in the coming months. These platforms are dedicated to education, strategies, and resources around alternative investment funds and products. Financial Advisors and investors who are interested in learning more can do so on fidcredit.com or review the prospectus here http://fiiscontent.fmr.com/9907037.PDF.

Alternative Investments at Fidelity

Fidelity offers a range of capabilities in the alternatives space to its institutional, intermediary, and retail clients.

• In 2022, Fidelity launched three liquid alts mutual funds, Fidelity Hedged Equity Fund (FEQHX), Fidelity Macro Opportunities Fund (FAQAX) and Fidelity Risk Parity Fund (FAPSX), available for individual investors and advisors to purchase commission-free through Fidelity’s online brokerage platforms.
• Retail investors also have access to alts mutual funds registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (’40 Act) through Fidelity.com. In addition, the portfolios within Fidelity’s discretionary managed account offering, Fidelity Portfolio Advisory Service (PAS), may include alternative investments when Fidelity believes it is beneficial to the portfolio’s asset allocation strategy and the investment mandate.
• Fidelity offers eligible investors access to investment opportunities in areas such as distressed debt, real estate debt, private real estate, private equity, and Bitcoin.
• Fidelity Institutional’s alternative investments platform, launched in October 2013 for intermediary clients, provides research, education, and third-party due diligence, as well as access to a wide range of alternative investment products, including hedge funds, real estate investment trusts (REITs), private equity funds, and ’40 Act mutual funds.
• Fidelity is a leading provider of custodial services of more than 5,000 alternative products for our clients.

** As of January 6, 2023, Fidelity Private Credit Fund BDC is available in 43 states and territories, excluding Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington.

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