The investment broker, manager and administrator Warren has just received a new investment of R $ 300 million, in a round led by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC, a long-term global investor in large companies such as Nubank, Sankhya Hotmart and VR Benefits.
The round, called Series C, is double the value of the previous two: Warren has already received R $ 25 million in series A made in 2019, which had funds from Ribbit Capital, Kaszek and Chromo Invest; and raised another R $ 120 million in series B, in 2020, when the QED, Meli Fund and Quartz funds entered. All of these investors also contributed to this third round. Asked about the current market value of the company, Tito Gusmão, president of Warren, declined to disclose, but assured that the company has not yet reached US $ 1 billion (condition to be called "unicorn").
According to him, he explained to Valor Investe, the money will be used to invest in four main fronts, one of which is hiring, especially of technology professionals. Today there are 400 employees in Porto Alegre (RS), São Paulo, in the interior of Santa Catarina and in the capital of Paraná, Curitiba. The expectation is to close the year with 600 professionals.
The second will be in the marketing area to "make noise" about the company, both to attract more individual customers and to draw the attention of potential partners to the B2B area, such as consultants and investment managers. Today the platform has about 300 thousand customers.
The third investment front is the B2B segment, Warren for Business, a platform for professionals in the investment market. Part of the new contribution will be aimed at improving its technological resources, which should contribute to the brand reaching 500 partners by the end of this year. The area is expected to move from 20% of Warren's total assets under management (AUM) as a whole today, to represent 60% of the total soon. Today, B2B already has 300 professional partners.
Finally, a resource for acquisitions will also be invested. “We are looking at some M & As [mergers and acquisitions] to increase the customer base and deliver important‘ features ’[features] to the customer. One of these acquisitions is triggered and should be released to the market in the next two months ”, says Gusmão.
The executive explains that the company has three main investment verticals: the investment product area, in particular the managed portfolio, which is the main one; the stock exchange, which is yet to grow; and that of financial services that make life easier for the investor, such as the account with daily liquidity and the coupled card that should be launched soon. Another eye is collateralized credit, which uses the investment as collateral.
“Our central north is to change the industry. We have a long-term dream of being the largest broker in the country and we were able to choose investors who also have a long-term mind and who matched our philosophy of alignment with the interests of the client ”, he comments. “We know that other brokers, such as XP and BTG, are incumbent and run with models that are out of alignment with the client. This has to end and it will end. And we are the ones who are going to make a difference ”, he adds.
The model adopted by Warren is called fee-based, which charges a percentage to help manage the client's money, unlike the model in which there is no charge for the service, but the products have a built-in commission - a model that most brokers today in Brazil follows.
“We didn't invent the wheel. We simply distribute to everyone the model that only the super-rich have access to and which is already common in more developed economies, such as the United States and Australia, for example. Through the Warren Model, we democratize the wealth management service: our clients invest for goals, do not pay brokerage fees, pay a single fee for all our services and still receive 100% of our commission back when they invest in funds from other managers in the our platform, ”explains Tito.
The company now totals R $ 5 billion under management and expects to achieve, by the end of 2021, the R $ 10 billion mark.
The investment broker, manager and administrator Warren has just received a new investment of R $ 300 million, in a round led by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC, a long-term global investor in large companies such as Nubank, Sankhya Hotmart and VR Benefits.
The round, called Series C, is double the value of the previous two: Warren has already received R $ 25 million in series A made in 2019, which had funds from Ribbit Capital, Kaszek and Chromo Invest; and raised another R $ 120 million in series B, in 2020, when the QED, Meli Fund and Quartz funds entered. All of these investors also contributed to this third round. Asked about the current market value of the company, Tito Gusmão, president of Warren, declined to disclose, but assured that the company has not yet reached US $ 1 billion (condition to be called "unicorn").
According to him, he explained to Valor Investe, the money will be used to invest in four main fronts, one of which is hiring, especially of technology professionals. Today there are 400 employees in Porto Alegre (RS), São Paulo, in the interior of Santa Catarina and in the capital of Paraná, Curitiba. The expectation is to close the year with 600 professionals.
The second will be in the marketing area to "make noise" about the company, both to attract more individual customers and to draw the attention of potential partners to the B2B area, such as consultants and investment managers. Today the platform has about 300 thousand customers.
The third investment front is the B2B segment, Warren for Business, a platform for professionals in the investment market. Part of the new contribution will be aimed at improving its technological resources, which should contribute to the brand reaching 500 partners by the end of this year. The area is expected to move from 20% of Warren's total assets under management (AUM) as a whole today, to represent 60% of the total soon. Today, B2B already has 300 professional partners.
Finally, a resource for acquisitions will also be invested. “We are looking at some M & As [mergers and acquisitions] to increase the customer base and deliver important‘ features ’[features] to the customer. One of these acquisitions is triggered and should be released to the market in the next two months ”, says Gusmão.
The executive explains that the company has three main investment verticals: the investment product area, in particular the managed portfolio, which is the main one; the stock exchange, which is yet to grow; and that of financial services that make life easier for the investor, such as the account with daily liquidity and the coupled card that should be launched soon. Another eye is collateralized credit, which uses the investment as collateral.
“Our central north is to change the industry. We have a long-term dream of being the largest broker in the country and we were able to choose investors who also have a long-term mind and who matched our philosophy of alignment with the interests of the client ”, he comments. “We know that other brokers, such as XP and BTG, are incumbent and run with models that are out of alignment with the client. This has to end and it will end. And we are the ones who are going to make a difference ”, he adds.
The model adopted by Warren is called fee-based, which charges a percentage to help manage the client's money, unlike the model in which there is no charge for the service, but the products have a built-in commission - a model that most brokers today in Brazil follows.
“We didn't invent the wheel. We simply distribute to everyone the model that only the super-rich have access to and which is already common in more developed economies, such as the United States and Australia, for example. Through the Warren Model, we democratize the wealth management service: our clients invest for goals, do not pay brokerage fees, pay a single fee for all our services and still receive 100% of our commission back when they invest in funds from other managers in the our platform, ”explains Tito.
The company now totals R $ 5 billion under management and expects to achieve, by the end of 2021, the R $ 10 billion mark.