The mechanism for Highland Europe to access sub-5bps

PE and VC

The mechanism for Highland Europe to access sub-5bps

135,000

EUR Annual Saving

55%

Execution Cost Improvement

About

Highland Europe is a top-tier PE and VC firm. Highland Europe has €3bn + in Assets Under Management which it has used to invest in over 70+ portfolio compnaies which is annually generating portfolio revenue of more than €6bn. They have invested across the Asia, the US and Europe.

Industry

PE and VC

Company size

15,000 portfolio employees

Founded

2012

Share

The Company

A growth-stage investment firm

Highland Europe are currently investing their fifth fund of €1Bn. They are renowned for the deep strategic expertise and commitment to success. With locations in the UK and Geneva and portfolio companies in Europe, Highland are well versed in making FX transactions.

The challenge

High spread costs and limited visibility

Despite their experience with FX transactions and knowledge of markets, Highland Europe (HL) were struggling with the lack of visibility in the FX market.

HL has an annual FX volume of around EUR 350 million, the company incurred roughly EUR 225,000 in annual execution costs, with a weighted average spreads ranging from 6.5 to 10 basis points. Without detailed transparency or analytical benchmarking, the treasury team struggled to identify inefficiencies and negotiate more competitive pricing with their banking partners. This lack of data-driven insight restricted their ability to assess true execution quality, leaving significant potential savings unrealised and reducing overall control of FX transaction performance.

The solution

Data-driven insights

After partnering with Adda Analytics, Highland Europe transformed its FX execution process through enhanced transparency and data-driven insight.

The analytics platform delivers a clear view of transaction costs, enabling the treasury team to benchmark performance and run a competitive tender process with counterparties. This structured, evidence-based approach created a path to reducing spreads to below 5 basis points, yielding annual savings projected to exceed £100,000.

With full transparency and continuous monitoring, Highland Europe gained stronger control over FX execution quality, improved pricing efficiency across its FX flows, and secured meaningful long-term cost benefits.

The results

Transparent execution and significant savings post-engagement

The outcome was a 55% spread improvement - equivalent to a 3.5 bps reduction and a forecasted annual saving of over 100,000 GBP. With ongoing monitoring through Adda’s platform, Highland Europe now maintains complete visibility over FX execution quality, ensuring sustained efficiency, accountability, and value across its global treasury operations.

Key outcomes include: