Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance is the latest traditional financial services firm to make moves in fintech investment with the launch of a $50m corporate venture fund.
Named Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures the fund says it will invest in startups developing technologies that have the potential to impact how Northwestern’s customers experience and achieve financial security.
The Milwaukee-based firm will make investments of between $500,000 and $3m in four main areas that it outlines as changing consumer preferences, client experience, digital health and analytics technologies.
Vice president of corporate strategy at Northwestern and chairperson of the fund’s investment committee Rebecca Porter said: “We want to make it easier for Americans to know what financial security is and how to achieve it.
“We’re bringing together the strength and scale of a 160-year-old Fortune 100 company with leading-edge innovations of startups to transform financial planning through our trusted advisors and relevant digital tools.”
The incumbent firm has previously backed companies in the fintech space including robo-advisor Betterment and digital savings startup Rize.
The firm acquired financial planning startup LearnVest in 2015 for $250m.
Porter said of the purchase: “We have already seen substantial benefits through LearnVest and other investments, and our goal is to continue tapping into innovators that share our passion for helping people through innovation.”
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