SINGAPORE, March 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Worldwide Stablecoin Payment Network (WSPN) is pleased to announce the launch of a new cross-chain bridge product developed in collaboration with Meson.fi and Free Protocol. This innovative solution enables seamless conversion of WUSD between Ethereum and Conflux networks, representing a significant milestone in WSPN’s strategic partnership with Conflux.

Users can now conveniently transfer WUSD from Ethereum to the Conflux blockchain, enjoying greater flexibility in managing their digital assets across multiple ecosystems. This enhancement supports WSPN’s commitment to making WUSD accessible and useful across diverse blockchain environments.

“This cross-chain bridge marks an important step in our mission to create a truly interconnected stablecoin ecosystem,” said Raymond Yuan, Founder & CEO of WSPN. “We’re breaking down the barriers between blockchain networks and giving WUSD users more freedom to utilize their assets wherever they see the most value.”

The collaboration significantly advances WUSD’s multi-chain strategy. Moving forward, WSPN, Meson.fi, and Free Protocol will continue exploring additional cross-chain applications, promoting WUSD’s circulation and utility across a broader blockchain ecosystem.

The official cross-chain bridge is now available at: https://tunnel.free.tech/wusd

About WSPN

WSPN is a leading provider of next-generation stablecoin infrastructure, committed to building a more secure, efficient, and transparent payment solution for the global economy. Their flagship product, WUSD stablecoin, is pegged 1:1 to the U.S. Dollar and aims to optimize secure digital payments for Web3 users. WSPN’s Stablecoin 2.0 approach prioritizes user-centricity, community governance, and accessibility, paving the way for widespread stablecoin adoption.

Learn more: www.wspn.io | X | LinkedIn

About Meson

Meson.fi (https://meson.fi): As a leading protocol for connecting blockchains and applications, Meson.fi serves as the official bridging partner for BTC & ETH Layer 2 networks. Since December 2021, Meson.fi has processed over $10 billion in transaction volume for BTC, ETH, USDT, and USDC.

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Official Docs & Audits: docs.meson.fi (https://docs.meson.fi/)

Meson Twitter: x.com/mesonfi 

Meson Discord: discord.gg/mesonfi (https://discord.gg/meson)

About Free Protocol

Free Protocol (https://free.tech/): Free is a cross-chain omnilayer that unlocks liquidity for staked assets, helping users access instant liquidity and maximize yield potential. With a total TVL exceeding $1 billion, Free is shaping the future of LRT multi-chain deployment and circulation (https://defillama.com/protocol/free-protocol).

Free Twitter: https://x.com/Protocol_Free 

Free Discord: discord.gg/freeprotocol

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BlackRock maintains top position in Broadridge’s Fund Brand 50 global asset manager rankings, while the backlash against ESG pushes green into the red.

LONDON, March 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The latest edition of Broadridge’s Fund Brand 50 (FB50), an annual research study by global Fintech leader Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) was released today, highlighting the world’s best-performing third-party asset management brands. The study reveals that European fund selectors placed higher importance on ‘Appealing investment strategy’ than their US and APAC counterparts, and turned away from active mutual funds to seek efficient returns in alternatives and active ETFs.

“An unchanged trio of US fund providers top the brand ranking. JP Morgan closed the gap further in 2024 on first-ranked BlackRock, as both groups score highly across all 10 brand attributes, except ‘Social responsibility/sustainability’. European groups are still well-represented at the top table, making up five of the top 10, with DWS breaking into the top 10 for the first time,” said Barbara Wall, Director, EMEA Insights, Broadridge.

Battered by turbulent geopolitical changes, worsening fee compression, and painful cuts to resources, asset managers had to innovate to stay afloat – with many of the most successful managers diversifying into up-and-coming investment vehicles. The nascent European active ETF and semi-liquid alternatives segments proved two of the most interesting (and profitable) in 2024.

Managers also had to adapt to shifting client needs, adopting new approaches to pricing and client service. While having a distinct product range remains essential, it is more of hygiene factor than a differentiator. Today’s fund selector expects intuitive client service, highly effective and strategic communications, and thorough expertise in newer and more complex product segments – although EMEA selectors place a lower premium on ‘Solidity’ than their APAC and US counterparts.

The independent study, now in its 14^th year, measures and ranks asset managers’ relative brand attractiveness based on fund selector perceptions: taking into account 10 brand attributes to reveal the top global and regional brands in Europe, APAC, and the US. FB50 also reveals the local market brand leaders in Europe and APAC’s most significant retail markets for third-party fund distribution. This is the latest study from Broadridge’s Data and Analytics business and highlights the depth and breadth of the firm’s global market insights.

Top-10 European Asset Management Brands

Rank	Fund Group	Change Advertisement
1	BlackRock	0
2	JPMorgan AM	0
3	Fidelity	0
4 Advertisement	Pictet AM	0
5	Amundi	0
6	iShares	0
7	Vanguard Advertisement	+ 2
8	Robeco	– 1
9	Schroders	– 1
10	DWS	+ 1 Advertisement

Key insights

While BlackRock’s position at the apex of the leaderboard has looked unassailable for several years now, second-placed JPMorgan is gaining ground fast – setting up a showdown for supremacy in Europe next year. The top-five global brands, led by BlackRock, are all industry giants in terms of both assets under management and operational scale. While the top five remain unchanged from last year, there is significant jostling for position in the rest of the top 10 – as well as plenty of fast risers and new entrants throughout the top 50. This was largely to the benefit of passive specialists, many of whom shot up the rankings. While active managers generally struggled in EMEA, there were some notable risers too, such as Baillie Gifford and Artemis.

It was a tough year for ESG, as the phenomenon of ‘greenwashing’ which has been written about so much in recent years – where managers seek to embellish the environmental bona fides of products with tenuous environmental credentials to make them more appealing to socially conscious investors – pivoted into something very different as the pendulum of political pressure swung the other way: giving rise to yet another new term, ‘greenhushing’. With ESG increasingly out of vogue, several firms strongly associated with sustainability and social responsibility were negatively impacted, most notably Robeco and Nordea. Firms are increas­ingly reluctant to champion their ESG cre­dentials for fear of their brand being politicised or even opened up to legal challenges.

European investors turned in their droves to new asset classes, with equity ETF providers recording their best year ever, and generalists looking to improve their alternatives offering – with a particular flurry of activity coming from the number of semi-liquid strategy launches.

Top valued attributes

The top-five most important attributes in Europe were unchanged overall in FB50 2025 – although there were some shifts in the order of priority. While ‘Appealing investment strategy’ retained pole position, ‘Expert in what they do’ pushed ‘Client-oriented thinking’ down into third place, as rising client demand for non-traditional asset class exposure proved a key differentiator. ‘Keeping best informed’ and ‘Solidity’ retained their top-five placements, as fund selectors expect clear and effective communication, and seek solidity in well-established and well-trusted brands with a proven track record. Selectors also stressed the importance of state-of-the-art communications.

In a year dominated by notable mergers and acquisitions, ‘Solidity’ and ‘Stability of investment management team’ were also high on the radar of fund selectors. Asset managers face a challenge in trying to balance achieving scale and building a reputation in popular and up-and-coming investment strategies on one hand, while working to ensure that acquisitions enrich rather than dilute brand perception on the other.

‘Social responsibility/sustainability’ slumped to last place in this year’s ranking, where it also finished in APAC and the US. While it would be premature to proclaim the death of ESG, it is certainly in need of a reboot.

Additional findings from this year’s study include:

• With ETFs dominating flows and cost pressures rising rapidly, it is no surprise to see the top-10 ranking prominently featuring a number of passive fund specialists.  
• While BlackRock maintained its dominant position in the region as a whole, there were some losses at the market level. The global giant was pushed out of the top spots in Germany and Italy by JPMorgan. BlackRock also appears second in Sweden and Switzerland, and has dropped two rungs in France, appearing fourth behind Natixis, Pictet, and Amundi.
• Pictet was stung by the backlash against thematic investments, as selectors ditched active funds in favour of less expensive index-tracking products and ETFs. This performance is typical for active managers, although there is a swell of belief that active man­agement will see a recovery this year as gains become harder to come by.
• Growing demand for ETFs also affected bond specialist PIMCO, who dropped two rungs into 12th position this year. Some managers found they can get similar exposure from ETFs at a lower price point, and more efficiently than from fixed income products. It wasn’t all bad news for PIMCO though, as the firm was widely praised for their communications.

A webinar is scheduled for 1 April at 2:00pm BST | 9:00am EST | 9:00pm CST to reveal the top asset management brands in each region. Registration is available to all at https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/4856337/C31EF5B7BB12C227237FC751069B4526 and is now open.

About the research

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The Broadridge Fund Brand 50 report is an annual study monitoring the influence of brand on third-party fund selection. The study is based on intensive interviews in Europe, APAC, and the US with more than 1,200 of the most significant fund selectors and gatekeepers – the key decision makers who choose which funds and groups are added to a distributor’s buy list. Interviewees name their top-three suppliers across the following 10 brand attributes.

• Appealing investment strategy
• Expert in what they do
• Client-oriented thinking
• Keeping best-informed
• Solidity
• Innovation/adaptation to market
• Key international player
• Stability of investment management team
• Local knowledge
• Social responsibility/sustainability

These answers, as well as commentary from other preference questions, are collated using statistical analysis and transformed into a ‘Total Brand Score’, on which groups are ranked.

Asset managers, consultants and other industry stakeholders interested in receiving the in-depth Broadridge Fund Brand 50 analysis can make their request via the Fund Brand 50 information page.

About Broadridge

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR) is a global technology leader with the trusted expertise and transformative technology to help clients and the financial services industry operate, innovate, and grow. We power investing, governance, and communications for our clients – driving operational resiliency, elevating business performance, and transforming investor experiences.

Our technology and operations platforms process and generate over 7 billion communications per year and underpin the daily trading of more than $10 trillion of securities globally. A certified Great Place to Work®, Broadridge is part of the S&P 500® Index, employing over 14,000 associates in 21 countries.

For more information about us, please visit www.broadridge.com

Media Contact:
Jessica Bromham
Cognito Media
Jessica.Bromham@cognitomedia.com 

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• Aggregate assets under management of €10 billion in the European and US Living, light industrial, logistics, Data Centres, hospitality, office, and cultural and leisure sectors
• SWI Group has over 350 professionals located in 25 offices across the world
• Integration of SWI Group provides both scale and product diversification to attract higher levels of institutional investment as a leading alternative investment platform

LONDON, GENEVA, and LUXEMBOURG, March 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ —  Icona Capital, the London and Luxembourg based alternative investment group, and Stoneweg, the real estate investment group headquartered in Geneva, today announce they will now both operate under the newly formed SWI Group brand with more than €10 billion of assets under management. 

Together Icona Capital and Stoneweg recently completed the acquisition of Cromwell Property Group’s European fund management platform and associated co-investments. The €3.9 billion of real estate assets, which included 27.8% of the Cromwell European REIT, were acquired for a total consideration of €280 million and provide SWI with immediate growth, scale and product diversification capabilities.

New management talent has also recently joined SWI Group and have already been instrumental in adapting the Group’s strategy as a leading alternative platform whose mission is to become more scalable, elevate growth and optimise more investment opportunities.

SWI Group defines its business activities into two distinct business groupings: Stoneweg Real Assets, and Icona Alternatives. Stoneweg Real Assets will primarily focus its strategies across Living, Hospitality, Logistics, Offices, Real Estate, Infrastructure, Data Centres, and Experiential Ventures. Icona Alternatives will concentrate on Private Equity, Venture Capital, Special Situations, Liquid Strategy, Private Credit, Sports & Entertainment.

SWI Group has over 350 employees spread across 25 offices, in 17countries in Europe, North America, and Singapore. A strong global presence with local based talent is one of the key advantages of the SWI Group. The majority of the team have been experts within their fields for many years with both local knowledge and the network required to carry out their specialized asset management roles.

Max-Hervé George, former Chairman and CEO Icona Capital, now Chairman and Co-CEO SWI Group said, “The creation of the SWI Group is a key development and elevates the combined standing of both Icona and Stoneweg. We have created a highly attractive institutional investment platform based around our global reach with local talent. It brings together the benefits of a larger integrated business, increased AUM, enhanced efficiency and our global presence. At its heart, this combination will deliver more attractive opportunities for our clients. SWI Group will be more robust, more diverse and increase our capacity to deliver continued growth and, with the support of third-party institutional capital, allow us to execute on more investment opportunities.”

“This integration is a milestone in Stoneweg’s growth trajectory and strengthens our position in the market as a leading real asset investment group,” added Jaume Sabater, former CEO of Stoneweg and now Co-CEO of SWI Group. “We have worked with Max-Hervé George and his teams from Icona Capital on numerous acquisitions and we are eager to work together as one team. Following on from the recent acquisition of the Cromwell Property Group’s European Platform, we are now taking another transformative step as we combine our two dynamic businesses into their two respective fields of expertise: Real Assets and Alternative Investments, all under the single, powerful brand of the SWI Group”.

Notes to Editors:

About SWI Group

SWI Group (www.swi.com ) is an alternative investment platform driven by a strong entrepreneurial spirit that operates in a number of sectors, including Data Centres, Real Estate, Credit, and the Financial Sector. The company’s investment strategies are grounded in thorough research, in-depth first-hand knowledge, and the ability to efficiently implement strategies to maximise the greatest return potential.

SWI Group relies on local operating teams to identify, develop and manage opportunities around the world, both real estate and investment strategies. SWI Group currently has over €10 billion of assets under management and more than 350 employees across 26 offices across the world.

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About Icona Capital

Icona Capital Group is an independent investment firm and financial advisory business established by Max-Hervé George. It is registered and headquartered in London with further offices in Singapore, Geneva and Luxembourg. It advises a number of its own special purpose vehicles across different business segments in real estate, credit, private equity and special situations.

 For more information, visit: www.iconacapital.com 

About Stoneweg

Stoneweg is a global alternative investment group headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 2015 by a team of seasoned investment professionals, the Group has since grown its platform and capabilities both organically and through strategic acquisitions. Stoneweg is a trusted partner to, and investment manager on behalf of, a wide range of global and local investors, capital allocators and finance houses.
Through a range of tailored solutions, including club deals, joint ventures and co-investments, it has a strong investment track record across a range of strategies, both private and listed, and asset classes.

For more information, visit: www.stoneweg.com

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