Sydney-based Invast Global has undergone a brand overhaul and has rebranded as 26 Degrees, the company officially announced today (Friday). The renamed company will focus on the main brokerage market.
The new name, 26°, was chosen creatively to refer to the 26° latitude that runs parallel across Australia’s widest range, dividing it from north to south.
Gavin White, CEO at 26 Degrees (formerly Invast Global)
In an interview with finance poles26 Degrees CEO Gavin White said the rebranding has been forced upon the company with the exponential growth of its institutional core services business in the past five years.
“The global brokerage market is in a state of flux,” White said. “This has highlighted the strong position of major independent brokerages such as 26 Degrees to ramp up and support underserved market segments.”
Strategic brand reform
The rebranding came as a strategic decision for the company. White pointed to opportunities in the market when Credit Swiss collapsed and other corporate giants such as Jeffries exited.
The main services market is estimated to be around 20 billion US dollars. The growth opportunities in this market are enormous with the giant global investment banks accounting for 92.5 percent, and an estimated value of around $18.5 billion.
According to 26 Degrees, estimated revenue from clients with assets under management of less than $100 million is $3.2 billion or 15.8 percent of the industry, and the company will target this particular market.
“Banks were forced out after the global financial crisis because of regulatory reforms,” White told Finance Magnates. “It has pushed banks out of a very lucrative industry which is the main services serving brokers and dealers.”
“With this, a lot of brokers find it very difficult to get the services of a prime broker. The hedge fund industry was also in the same situation. Prime brokers are declining due to regulatory forms. So we built a business to take advantage of that.”
26 Degrees is owned by a Japanese parent, who has an extensive brokerage presence. The new branded company also expects to take advantage of the Japanese parent company’s reputation in the market to win customers.
Multicultural organization
Formerly known as Invast Global, 26 Degrees is a global brand with a physical presence in many countries.
Explaining the multicultural work environment, White said: “Australia is a very multicultural country. There is nothing that distinguishes Australians, and that makes it easier for us to interact with different cultures. We have an office in Cyprus. There are no cultural differences there. The same follows in London.”
“However, Japan is a little different because it’s a different culture, but we managed to deal with that.”
He added, “We now have two employees from our Cyprus office in the Australian office for the next month. We have people going to Japan and London as well. That’s one of the things our people really like about our company.”
The workforce at 26 Degrees is also quite small. White revealed that 60 percent of the company’s employees are under the age of 30.
“It’s very much a millennial,” he said. “We’ve gone for 10 really great people at the top and interns at the bottom over the last 10 years. Now, some of those interns are in C-level behaviour.”
Sydney-based Invast Global has undergone a brand overhaul and has rebranded as 26 Degrees, the company officially announced today (Friday). The renamed company will focus on the main brokerage market.
The new name, 26°, was chosen creatively to refer to the 26° latitude that runs parallel across Australia’s widest range, dividing it from north to south.
Gavin White, CEO at 26 Degrees (formerly Invast Global)
In an interview with finance poles26 Degrees CEO Gavin White said the rebranding has been forced upon the company with the exponential growth of its institutional core services business in the past five years.
“The global brokerage market is in a state of flux,” White said. “This has highlighted the strong position of major independent brokerages such as 26 Degrees to ramp up and support underserved market segments.”
Strategic brand reform
The rebranding came as a strategic decision for the company. White pointed to opportunities in the market when Credit Swiss collapsed and other corporate giants such as Jeffries exited.
The main services market is estimated to be around 20 billion US dollars. The growth opportunities in this market are enormous with the giant global investment banks accounting for 92.5 percent, and an estimated value of around $18.5 billion.
According to 26 Degrees, estimated revenue from clients with assets under management of less than $100 million is $3.2 billion or 15.8 percent of the industry, and the company will target this particular market.
“Banks were forced out after the global financial crisis because of regulatory reforms,” White told Finance Magnates. “It has pushed banks out of a very lucrative industry which is the main services serving brokers and dealers.”
“With this said, a lot of brokers find it very difficult to get the services of a prime broker. The hedge fund industry was also in the same situation. Prime brokers are going down due to regulatory forms. So we built a business to take advantage of that.”
26 Degrees is owned by a Japanese parent, who has an extensive brokerage presence. The new branded company also expects to take advantage of the Japanese parent company’s reputation in the market to win customers.
Multicultural organization
Formerly known as Invast Global, 26 Degrees is a global brand with a physical presence in many countries.
Explaining the multicultural work environment, White said: “Australia is a very multicultural country. There is nothing that distinguishes Australians, and that makes it easier for us to interact with different cultures. We have an office in Cyprus. There are no cultural differences there. The same follows in London.”
“However, Japan is a little different because it’s a different culture, but we managed to deal with that.”
He added, “We now have two employees from our Cyprus office in the Australian office for the next month. We have people going to Japan and London as well. That’s one of the things our people really like about our company.”
The workforce at 26 Degrees is also quite small. White revealed that 60 percent of the company’s employees are under the age of 30.
“It’s very much a millennial,” he said. “We’ve gone for 10 really great people at the top and interns at the bottom over the last 10 years. Now, some of those interns are in C-level behaviour.”
