The new venture, which will be based in Globaleye’s existing Singapore office, has received approval from local regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Jigsaw chief executive Paul Jeffreys said: “Jigsaw is always looking for ways to enhance its business offering and add additional value to our clients.
“Rather than reinventing the wheel, we are delighted to merge our business with Globaleye and to capitalise on the economies of scale that come with joining a business many times our size.”
Jeffreys added that, while the two businesses have traditionally focused on different market segments – Jigsaw on accredited investors and Globaleye on the mainstream market – both companies have worked with similar product providers with a primary focus on the expatriate population under the Financial Advisors Act in Singapore.
Globaleye chief executive, Tim Searle, said: “We have been in discussion for over a year and it is only now we are seeing the fruits of those negotiations, which is partly due to changes in the Singapore financial advisory market.
"There is likely to be more consolidation in the industry and economies of scale will play an important role if groups are going to be able to meet, or indeed maintain, a compliant business model.”
Globaleye also recently confirmed it had “relinquished” its license in Belgium after the local regulator, the Financial Services and Markets Authority, released a statement saying the company has “neither the registration required in Belgium to pursue the activity of insurance intermediation, nor the authorisation in order to offer investment services in or from Belgium”.
At the time Searle said: “It is well documented that there is a lack of the traditional offshore product providers in the EU and the number continues to diminish, so this does not bode well for our proposition in being able to offer a holistic financial planning solution from an array of providers.
“To that end, we have merged our business with another existing EU brokerage.”
