What FDI does

FDI is a privately held wealth management and financial advisory firm founded in 1998 by Mariano Sardáns, originally in Larkspur, California, and now operating from Miami (US HQ), Montevideo (Uruguay), and Buenos Aires (Argentina). The firm is registered with the SEC in the United States, BCU in Uruguay, and CNV in Argentina, enabling cross-border advisory across the Americas. It claims to be the first wealth management firm in the Latin America region and targets high-net-worth individuals and families as the primary client base, with institutional investors, expatriates, and corporate clients as secondary segments.

The service portfolio spans financial asset management, multi-family office services, fiduciary structures (trusts/fideicomisos), real estate asset management, FX operations, and expatriate services. Adjacent offerings include corporate finance advisory under a "Finanzas para Empresas" line and proprietary add-on modules branded Protector Financiero and Protector Fiduciario. In Argentina, execution is routed through clearing/partner agents including Capital Markets Argentina S.A., Consultatio Investments S.A., and INVIU S.A.U. The firm also co-founded SFI Servicios Fiduciarios with Fernando Díaz as a dedicated fiduciary services vehicle. There is no indication of proprietary technology, AI/ML capability, or automated advisory infrastructure; the operating model is fundamentally human-advisor-led.

FDI operates on a 100% client-paid fee-only model, structured as an annual aliquot on assets under management rather than transactional commissions. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The firm has cultivated a media presence through high press consultation activity (478 consultations in the 12 months ending April 2020), which functions as a low-cost client acquisition channel. Headcount sits in the 11-50 range and revenue is not publicly disclosed, with no funding rounds or external investment indicated.

Name

FDI

Legal name

Financial Design International S.A.

Website

https://fdinternational.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

FDI is a privately held fee-only wealth management firm offering asset management, multi-family office, fiduciary structuring, and FX services across Miami, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires for high-net-worth individuals, families, expatriates, and institutional clients in the Americas.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wealth Management and Investment Advisory

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (52592)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211)

akta.pro primary industry

Fund of Funds & Multi-Manager Mutual Funds (FSAAAEAL)

Keywords

• Wealth management services
• Investment advisory
• Multi-family office
• Fiduciary services
• Asset management

Headquarters

HQ city

Torre

HQ country

Philippines

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Fee-Only Advisory Services: 100% of FDI's revenue comes from fees agreed upon and paid by clients (fee-only model). No commissions, retrocessions, incentives, or third-party payments are accepted from any financial institution. This eliminates conflicts of interest and aligns the firm's incentives with client outcomes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

FDI is a fee-only wealth management and investment advisory firm that manages personalized international investment portfolios for individuals, families, and institutional investors. Its core offerings span financial asset management, multi-family office services, structuring of trusts and corporate entities, real estate asset management, and supplementary advisory services including fiduciary monitoring, foreign exchange operations, expatriate advisory, and corporate finance, delivered through offices in Miami, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires under SEC, BCU, and CNV regulation.

Product overview

FDI is a wealth management firm operating as a unified platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering centers on four primary services: Financial Asset Management, Multi-Family Office, Corporate/Trust/Fiduciary Account Structuring, and Real Estate Asset Management. Complementing these core services is a suite of six specialized solutions — Protector Financiero (financial guardian), Protector Fiduciario (fiduciary monitor), Soluciones Fiduciarias (fiduciary services via SFI), Operaciones Cambiarias (foreign exchange), Argentinos y Uruguayos Expatriados (expatriate services), and Finanzas para Empresas (corporate finance) — all delivered under a fee-only model through offices in Miami, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Gerenciamiento de Activos Financieros (Financial Asset Management) Comprehensive management of financial assets including personalized investment portfolios in international markets, currency operations, and foreign exchange management, delivered under a fee-only model for individuals and institutional investors.
• Multi-Family Office Integrated wealth management service for families, providing coordinated financial, tax, legal, and succession planning across multiple family units.
• Sociedades, Trusts / Fideicomisos y Cuentas (Companies, Trusts, and Accounts) Structuring and administration of corporate entities, trusts, fiduciary contracts, and accounts for asset protection, estate planning, and succession management.
• Gerenciamiento de Activos Inmobiliarios (Real Estate Asset Management) Management of real estate assets including property acquisition, administration, and divestment coordination for personal and institutional portfolios.
• Protector Financiero Financial portfolio review and monitoring service using proprietary daily monitoring technology across 1,500+ financial institutions in the US and Europe, validating investment recommendations and identifying hidden costs and conflicts of interest on behalf of clients.
• Protector Fiduciario Monitor and control service for fiduciaries and trustees within trust structures, hired by settlors or beneficiaries to supervise fiduciary management and associated financial service providers.
• Soluciones Fiduciarias (Fiduciary Solutions via SFI Servicios Fiduciarios) Fiduciary administration services for asset management, succession strategies, confidentiality, and asset protection, provided by SFI Servicios Fiduciarios (co-founded by FDI's Fernando Díaz), including Director de Sociedades Patrimoniales and fiduciary administration.
• Operaciones Cambiarias (Foreign Exchange Operations) Turnkey foreign exchange service enabling clients to execute currency inflow/egress operations and dollar purchases/sales, encompassing exchange, legal, stock market, tax, and financial considerations.
• Argentinos y Uruguayos Expatriados (Argentine and Uruguayan Expatriate Advisory) Comprehensive financial and tax advisory service for Argentine and Uruguayan expatriates, managing assets in Argentina, Uruguay, and the United States, including account opening, AFIP/DGI coordination, and tax compliance.
• Finanzas para Empresas (Corporate Finance) Corporate financial management service acting as an external CFO for SMEs and large companies, encompassing treasury management, FX hedging, capital markets operations, and tax coordination to maximize shareholder returns.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduces investor costs and commissions by 50–80% compared to traditional financial advisory models

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Capital Markets Argentina S.A.coreTechnology or IntegrationFinancial Design International S.A. (Argentina entity) is an AAGI (Agente Asesor Global de Inversiones) partner of Capital Markets Argentina S.A., an ALyC (Agente de Liquidación y Compensación) registered with the CNV (Matrícula# 117). The relationship enables FDI's Argentine operations to execute transactions through this clearing agent.
• Consultatio Investments S.A.coreTechnology or IntegrationFinancial Design International S.A. is an AAGI partner of Consultatio Investments S.A., an ALyC registered with the CNV (Matrícula# 351). This clearing agent partnership enables execution of client investment transactions.
• INVIU S.A.U.coreTechnology or IntegrationFinancial Design International S.A. is an AAGI partner of INVIU S.A.U., an ALyC registered with the CNV (Matrícula# 205). This clearing agent partnership enables execution of client investment transactions in the Argentine market.
• SFI Servicios FiduciarioscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSFI Servicios Fiduciarios originated from FDI's client needs and the absence of suitable fiduciary services in the region. SFI provides fiduciary administration of assets, succession strategies, confidentiality, and asset protection. SFI was co-founded by FDI's Fernando Díaz. SFI handles services including Director de Sociedades Patrimoniales and fiduciary administration.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Puente: Argentine investment manager and broker offering portfolio management, FX, and investment advisory services to retail and institutional clients. Comparable in addressing Argentine investor needs across asset classes, though primarily domestic in scope.
• Balanz Capital: Argentine wealth management and brokerage firm serving individual and institutional investors with diversified portfolios, FX operations, and corporate finance services. Comparable in serving the Argentine HNW segment with multi-product offerings, though larger in headcount and product breadth.

Direct peers

• Stonehage Fleming: Global multi-family office with a strong international HNW practice including Latin American families. Comparable in providing integrated financial, fiduciary, and succession planning services to wealthy families across jurisdictions under a fee-based advisory model.
• WE Family Offices: Miami-headquartered multi-family office serving high-net-worth Latin American families with cross-border wealth, estate, and investment advisory services. Operates with a comparable fee-based model and serves a similar HNW client base across the US, Latin America, and Europe.

Broad incumbents

• LarrainVial: Large Chilean financial group offering wealth management, asset management, and investment banking across Latin America. Comparable in providing wealth advisory to HNW families in the region, though it operates at significantly greater scale and as a broader financial services incumbent.
• HSBC Private Bank: Global private banking division of HSBC with established Latin American HNW and family office practices. Comparable in serving cross-border HNW clients with multi-currency and multi-jurisdiction wealth solutions, though operating as a much larger full-service bank.
• Pictet Wealth Management: Swiss-headquartered global private bank serving HNW and family office clients worldwide, including a significant Latin American clientele. Comparable in providing fee-based advisory, estate planning, and multi-jurisdictional wealth services to HNW families, but at materially larger scale.
• BTG Pactual Wealth Management: Latin American wealth management arm of BTG Pactual, the region's largest independent investment bank. Comparable in serving HNW Latin American clients with cross-border wealth advisory, but operates at materially larger scale and broader product range.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FDIadvisors
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCCbnPhrnDyWhb1338tJzsKg
• Facebookfacebook.com/FDI.patrimonios
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fdi-gerenciadora-de-patrimonios
• Instagraminstagram.com/fdiadvisors

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FDI