Talanx merges Scorable and BondIT to spur digital transformation of bond market

German re/insurer Talanx has merged Scorable, an artificial intelligence (AI) solution that assists in bond credit risk analysis, with fixed income portfolio management company BondIT to target the $80 trillion global asset management market.

The merger aims to drive forward the digital transformation of the bond market, enabling the two companies to combine their technologies.

The combined entity will offer a fully integrated portfolio management and research as a service solution, enabling fixed income asset managers and financial advisors to automate and optimise the investment process.

Talanx financed Scorable on its formation in 2019.

Ampega Asset Management, Talanx’s asset management company, will retain a stake in the merged entity. The transaction is expected to close at the end of 2020.

Talanx said that by combining BondIT’s established footprint in the US and APAC with Scorable’s presence in Europe will significantly boost the combined company’s international reach to target the $80 trillion global asset management market.

BondIT and Scorable are backed by investors and partners across the globe, with total investment in the combined company amounting to more than $40 million.

Harry Ploemacher, CEO of Ampega, said: “Asset managers who want to remain competitive must take advantage of digitisation. Smart technologies are more important than ever to successfully navigate in challenging markets. By combining their expertise, BondIT and Scorable have created a streamlined and efficient technology solution that meets the needs of fixed-income managers and helps them adapt to a changing industry. We’ve been successfully using Scorable’s technology since its market launch and we look forward to supporting the new company as it enters its next phase of development.”

Etai Ravid, CEO of BondIT, said: “Fixed income investors still rely heavily on manual-driven procedures, but in light of market and cost pressures, intelligent automation is increasingly necessary to stay competitive. Merging our technologies allows us to even better serve the evolving digital needs of our clients by helping them optimize their portfolio and risk management to boost efficiency, performance and scale.

“This merger further supports BondIT’s goal of creating a one-stop platform for Explainable Portfolio Construction, to allow users to easily understand the rationale behind the investment selection by making idea generation transparent and intuitive.”

Philippe Padrock, managing director of Scorable, added: “Implementing technology to centralize information and data is imperative, and Scorable’s explainable AI does exactly that by turning vast amounts of data into relevant insights and translating these into appropriate actions based on the portfolio objectives – all in a fraction of time that the manual process would take.”