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Financial Services Practice Overview

BVP has decades of experience investing in the financial-services industry.  As far back as the 1970s Bessemer invested in bank services roll-ups.  Since the 1980s and 1990s, Bessemer has been an active investor in banks.  And in the last ten years, the firm has become increasingly active in areas as diverse as capital-markets technology, wealth management, specialty finance, proprietary trading and research.  Bessemer invests in financial-services companies across stage and geography.  Members of the team have each spent several years working in the financial- services industry prior to joining the firm.  With our expertise, experience and an extensive network of contacts throughout the industry, we can understand and anticipate the changes occurring in this rapidly evolving sector.


Description

Most of our financial-services focus is concentrated in three major areas: asset management and personal finance; trading technology; and research and information services. All three industries are in the midst of fundamental change driven by technology.

In the asset-management and personal-finance sector, we have watched a generation of investors lose their confidence in a financial system marked by volatile markets and, often, imprudent advice from so-called “experts”. We believe small investors have been poorly served by the existing wealth-management industry and that a new generation of businesses, leveraging technology and transparency, will be built to provide best-in-class service to clients regardless of their level of wealth. 

The trading technology space has evolved dramatically over the last decade.  Spreads and commissions have narrowed, brining trading costs down.  At the same time, market volume has increased, driven in part by the introduction of high-frequency trading.  New securities of increasing complexity have entered the market. We believe there is an opportunity for new companies to provide a new class of infrastructure to address the rapidly evolving capital markets.

Research and information services have grown in importance as more information has become available to market participants.  We believe investment returns increasingly depend on access to proprietary information and an investor’s ability to parse that information quickly.  Investors have begun to demand greater accountability from their information providers and more transparency to ensure freedom from conflicts.  So we believe there are opportunities for innovative companies to enter the market by providing new types of information to investors or by providing research or information that is more accurate, transparent and reliable than existing products in the market. 
Past Investments Current Portfolio
Investment Team
Rob Stavis Rob Chandra Eric Arnold Abhijeet Muzumdar Trevor Oelschig
Rob
Stavis 		Rob
Chandra 		Eric
Arnold 		Abhijeet
Muzumdar 		Trevor
Oelschig

Financial Services Practice Overview BVP has a long history of investment in the financial services. The 1970s saw Bessemer investing in bank services roll-ups; thereafter it moved into areas as diverse as investment services ( ACTIV Financial , Quadriserv , LifeHarbor,  Gerson Lehrman ,  Motilal Os

Abhijeet Muzumdar is an associate at BVP India, working out of the Mumbai office.

ACTIV Financial Systems, Inc. provides market data content and technologies to to more than 300 customers worldwide, including market makers, hedge funds, brokers and trading systems.

BVP participated in American Federal's first and only round in 1989. The bank grew to operate 40 branch offices in northwestern South Carolina, along with a consumer finance company. That same year, the bank went public as OTC:AMFB. BVP exited the position in 1995; American Federal was acquired in 1997 by the much lar

BVP funded this multi bank holding company in 1987. It grew to operate banks in 39 communities in North and South Dakota and Minnesota. In 1991, the company went public as NASDAQ CFBX.

Eric Arnold is a Vice President in BVP's New York office., where he focuses on  the financial services, consumer internet, and media sectors. Eric serves on the board of United Capital Financial Advisers  and also works closely with  Hunch  and  Soleil Securities . Previously, Eric was a Senior Associate with Batt

Gerson Lehrman Group provides systems to help the world's leading financial services firms, consultancies, corporations and not for profit institutions find, engage, and manage their proprietary expert networks.

Prior to joining Bessemer in 2001, Rob Stavis led Salomon Brother's Arbitrage desk. Rob invests in financial services and consumer internet startups like Skype, where he led the A round.

Intacct provides on demand accounting, business and financial management applications over the web using a Software As A Service model.

LifeHarbor, Inc. develops wealth management software that provides portfolio managers and administrators with the most efficient way to customize and monitor thousands of individually managed accounts.

Bank holding company.

Rob Chandra is a Partner in Bessemer's Menlo Park office. Since entering the venture capital industry in 1996, Rob has been involved with 22 early-stage investments that have gone public or been acquired by public companies. Three of Rob's portfolio companies went public during 2008. Rob is the founding partner of 

 A financial services and brokerage company serving the needs of both institutional and retail investors in India.

Pillar's enterprise-wide budgeting software was one of the first to use Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) and object-oriented technology and to run over a network, allowing multiple simultaneous users. It was purchased by IMRS (NASDAQ:IMRS, now Hyperion, NASDAQ:HYSL) in 1994.

 Trevor Oelschig is a Senior Associate in BVP’s New York office. He works with Rob Stavis, focusing on opportunities in software, consumer technologies, and digital and mobile media. Prior to BVP, Trevor was an Associate with Panorama Capital (previously JPMorgan

Quadriserv's wholly owned subsidiary, Automated Equity Finance Markets, operates AQS®, a centralized marketplace for securities lending transactions. A FINRA member broker-dealer and a SEC regulated alternative trading system, AQS aims to maximize liquidity, access, credit, and transparency while mitigating systemic r

Shriram City Union Finance provides retail lending services to individuals and small businesses in India from a network of 633 outlets. 

United Capital's network of independent wealth management advisors provide custom tailored financial advice to individuals, families and institutions.

 Providing wireless point of sale service through a standard mobile phone platform.

Zopa is an online community linking lenders and borrowers.