Investment platform provider FNZ has taken a stake of 9.1% in the diverse financial services group Embark as part of a five year commercial partnership extension.

Embark has welcomed the injection of capital and partnership extension to 2028 as providing long term certainty.

Embark, which is based in the City of London, owns a number of brands including Rowanmoor, EBS, The Adviser Centre, DISCUS, Hornbuckle and Liberty SIPP.

It also operates a portfolio of white-label services for businesses such as RBS Coutts, Standard Life, Nutmeg, BestInvest, Charles Stanley, Moneyfarm and Wealthsimple.

Embark says the deal follows a “natural” review point five years after an initial tie-up with FNZ. Embark is a significant client of FNZ which powers a number of adviser platforms.

Embark said: “Collectively, Embark and FNZ are very clear that providing multi-channel, retirement-centric wrap services in the UK provides the best customer proposition in the foreseeable future.”

FNZ will take a stake in the firm by being the sole participant in a rights issue by Embark Group Limited. In doing so it will become a minority shareholder in the group for the first time, with a holding of approximately 9.1%.

FNZ said the corporate investment in the Embark business “does not carry any operational involvement, control, or oversight.”

Phil Smith, group chief executive of Embark, said: “FNZ has emerged as the leading platform software provider in the UK and internationally, but also proven themselves to be exceptional partners to the Embark Group.

“Their support has enabled us to put platform solutions behind large parts of the ‘robo’ and retail banking markets for pensions, whilst also facilitating our competitive disruption of the IFA wrap space. As the group continues to grow, it is essential we have long-term certainty in our technology pricing, development cycle and execution support. This renewal achieves these goals.”

Adrian Durham, group chief executive of FNZ, said: “We contracted in late 2013 with Embark when they were a small start-up player. We liked their ambition in the key retirement space and how they saw the platform market developing. Today they have over £15bn in AuM, much of which sits on our technology.

“They have solid distribution relationships and the right proposition for the UK market, and we believe will emerge as long-term winners in a competitive sector. They are one of the growth engines of FNZ, but moreover a great partner in the ongoing development of our digital footprint and services to the wider market.”