Zurich-based investment firm Ayondo has parted ways with its long-serving CEO Robert Lempka, per a company statement.
Robert Lempka co-founded ayondo in 2008 with his former colleague at Goldman Sachs Thomas Winkler. He graduated from the University of Trier, Germany in 1993 with a master of science.
Ayondo offers a broad spectrum of services that cover both retail and institutional sectors. The group claims to have 210,000 users from 195 countries on its social Trading Platform .
Robert Lempka
Source: ayondo
A search for a successor is underway. In the interim, the Singapore-listed company has appointed Mark Street, the regional head of ayondo’s Asian business, as its interim chief executive officer. Street has also worked as an advisor of ayondo since 2013, the company said.
The interim CEO has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. He originally began his career with UBS Securities in 1993 and served as head of institutional equities at Al Rajhi Capital, the brokerage arm of Saudi Arabi’s biggest bank.
Expansion in Asia
Street helped Ayondo ink more than 25 B2B partnership deals in Asia, ranging from white label partners to introducing brokers. In Singapore, the company has teamed up with local brokerage firm KGI Fraser Securities to launch a contracts for differences (CFDs) platform, also based on Ayondo’s existing TradeHub system.
Commenting on the news, co-founder and chairman of ayondo Thomas Winkler said, “We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Robert for his tireless work building ayondo from its foundation through to its current position as a global Financial Technology group and we wish him all the best for the future. Mark Street is well placed to helm the business and will lead the company towards its next step.”
In 2016, ayondo acquired TradeHero, a developer of a popular investor- education application, which allowed the company to expand its offerings and operations in Asia. Through the TradeHero brand, Ayondo also targets Chinese traders with a simplified casual trading product.
Also in 2017, Ayondo Group activated its portfolio management license issued by the German regulator (BaFin) making the social platform the first Fintech company to offer its services under such a license.
