Apex Group Ltd, the Bermudian-based global financial services provider, has announced the successful close of the acquisition of South Africa’s Boutique Collective Investments (Pty) Ltd and Boutique Investment Partners (Pty) Ltd.

BCI is a collective investments scheme manager with a core business focus on third-party branded portfolios.

BIP is an independent investment management and consulting firm providing multi-manager and consulting services to leading South African independent financial advisers and their retail and institutional clients.

The company said the additions of BCI and BIP expanded Apex Group’s African footprint following the acquisitions of Sanne Group and Maitland, reinforcing the group’s commitment to the region and expansion of its local operations.

This strategic acquisition adds $19 billion of assets under administration and around 50 new employees to the existing Apex Group platform in South Africa, which currently employs more than 1,200 people across offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg, servicing 140 clients with assets of approximately $130 billion.

Peter Hughes, founder and chief executive officer of the Apex Group, said: “We are pleased to welcome the BCI and BIP businesses and clients to Apex Group in South Africa.

“This latest strategic acquisition is further evidence of our commitment to building strategic hubs in South Africa to access the abundant pools of talent that we need to support both our South African and global client bases.

“We look forward to further enhancing our technology-enabled solutions to service the asset management industry in South Africa.”