Wealth Management


IBM Cloud launches new developer tools for financial services

IBM has unveiled its IBM Cloud for Financial Services for creating finserv apps. Users will get access to APIs, data and content to build and monetise cognitive-enabled apps for fintech firms, banks, wealth management firms and insurance companies. Initially available in beta, developers will also have the ability to build in customer insights, regulatory compliance […]

New Avaloq go-live for BT Financial Group

Australia-based BT Financial Group, a wealth management subsidiary of Westpac, has added new functionality – superannuation administration – to its core banking platform, supplied by Avaloq.

Fidor’s digital banking right shot for Van Lanschot

Dutch wealth management firm Van Lanschot has chosen Fidor’s digital banking solution for an upgrade of its payments software and infrastructure. As part of the agreement, Fidor will manage user and account data and will process Van Lanschot’s payments flows within its fidorOS (fOS) platform, which is built using open APIs. It will also modernise […]

Banking Technology March 2017 issue out now

The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.

Suncorp core banking revamp stumbles

Suncorp’s multi-year venture to modernise its core banking system, known as Project Ignite, has stumbled at the final hurdle. As Banking Technology reported in August 2016, the revamp was in its final stages. However, in questions over its half-year FY17 results, Suncorp told iTnews that the configuration of the platform and product migration has “taken […]

UBS extends agreement with EPAM Systems worth $300m

The world’s largest wealth manager UBS has extended its long-standing agreement with EPAM Systems, a provider of product development and software engineering solutions. The agreement – worth over $300 million – “supports the bank’s strategic cost reduction programme”, according to EPAM.

InvestCloud acquires Babel Systems for $20m

California-based InvestCloud has acquired Babel Systems in London for $20 million. Babel provides a modular and API-based trade and accounting platform, while InvestCloud has over 660 clients with “accounting needs served by legacy accounting systems that were designed in the last century”. This acquisition links InvestCloud’s digital platform with Babel’s capabilities. InvestCloud will also continue […]

JN Fund Managers in digital tech revamp with Objectway’s Conectus

JN Fund Managers (JNFM) has chosen Objectway’s Conectus solution for digital communication and reporting on clients’ investments. JNFM, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS), will use interactive collaboration tools such as chat, video call and screen-sharing. Investors will also be able to make requests digitally and place trade orders. Sharon Whitelocke, […]

Wealthy stay healthy with Charles Schwab’s new hybrid advisor

US-based Charles Schwab has launched its Schwab Intelligent Advisory, a hybrid advisory service that combines people and a robo-advisor. Schwab Intelligent Advisory will provide investors with a financial plan, guidance from “certified financial planner professionals”, and a fully automated portfolio using algorithm driven technology. The service is expected to launch in the first half of […]

Objectway Conference: Do or die in wealth management’s digital drive

The wealth management industry needs to shake off its “cottage industry” mentality of the past and realise that it is “do or die” in the push to digital. This was one of the key messages from yesterday’s (24 November) Objectway International Customer Conference in Amsterdam – a one-day event of presentations and insight from the […]

Wells Fargo turns to SigFig for robo-advisory tech

SigFig, a San Francisco-based fintech start-up, is partnering with Wells Fargo to provide the bank’s clients with its robo-advisory tech and wealth management tools. A pilot version will be rolled out in H1 2017.

DBS to acquire ANZ retail and wealth business in Asia

Singapore-based DBS Bank is buying the retail and wealth business of Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Indonesia for about SGD 110 million ($79 million) “above book value”. The exact figure has not been disclosed, but the portfolio represents total deposits of SGD 17 billion ($12.2 billion), […]

Brooks Macdonald puts IT revamp with Third Financial on hold

UK-based wealth and investment management firm Brooks Macdonald is believed to have scrapped its plans to implement a new wealth management system. The project was underway for some time, with domestic software developer Third Financial to deliver its Tercero platform, front-to-back office, to Brooks Macdonald.

JP Morgan Chase invests in InvestCloud for digital wealth management

JP Morgan Chase and InvestCloud, a California-based fintech firm, are partnering to develop digital capabilities for individual investors at both the JP Morgan and Chase franchises. JP Morgan has also made an equity investment in InvestCloud, but hasn’t revealed the figures. This investment is just one part of JP Morgan’s three-year $300 million digital strategy […]

UBS goes for AI face off

UBS is testing out artificial intelligence (AI) to see if it can assist clients in how best to invest their money – just by looking at their facial expressions. UBS chief investment officer Mark Haefele says the Swiss bank is running several pilot programmes – with one tool able to interpret clients’ facial expressions while […]

PriceMetrix acquired by McKinsey

McKinsey has bought PriceMetrix, a Toronto-based data and analytics company focused on the wealth and asset management sector. McKinsey says that “PriceMetrix will retain its management team, brand and identity, and will work in close collaboration with McKinsey’s wealth and asset management team”. PriceMetrix’s tools – ValueOne, CommissionCheck and FeeCheck – are complementary to McKinsey’s […]

Barclays Wealth enlists Tech Mahindra for tech modernisation

Tech Mahindra and its specialist banking IT consultancy and integration subsidiary, Sofgen, have been recruited by Barclays Wealth for its tech modernisation initiative. Barclays has been rolling out a new core banking platform – Avaloq Banking Suite – for a number of years, as well as a new front-office investment management platform, Charles River’s IMS. […]

Northern Trust teams with Scorpeo for corporate actions reporting

Northern Trust Corporation has signed for Scorpeo’s services to provide an “innovative” historical corporate actions reporting service. Scorpeo’s Harmonia solution enables historical analysis to generate “detailed reports to show investors exactly how much value has been missed”, the vendor explains. It will be incorporated into the Northern Trust Historical Corporate Actions Transparency report. Northern Trust’s […]

Singapore start-ups soar with OCBC support

OCBC Bank’s fintech accelerator programme, the Open Vault, will pilot tests with three start-ups – Fincast, BondIT and CogniCor. The tests involve wealth management and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions and will begin in the fourth quarter of this year, and will last for three months. Samuel Tsien, OCBC Bank’s group CEO, says: “Deploying these solutions […]

Alpima to implement new digital advisory platform from SS&C

London-based advisory firm Alpima has selected SS&C Technologies’ APX and Moxy solutions to underpin its digital advisory business. APX is an integrated, front-to-back office portfolio and client management solution. Moxy is a centralised trade order management system. SS&C says the contract was preceded by a “thorough analysis”. Pierre Mendelsohn, founder and CEO of Alpima, comments […]

Standard Chartered revamps wealth management ops with Temenos

Temenos has landed a major deal with Standard Chartered, to modernise the bank’s wealth management software across 30+ countries. The bank signed for Temenos’ WealthSuite, front-to-back office, which incorporates the vendor’s T24 system; Insight BI for analytics; Temenos Connect for channels; and the TripleA portfolio management software that stems from Odyssey Financial Technologies, a wealth […]

LGT Vestra keeps JHC’s Figaro wealth management system

Following an unsuccessful attempt to implement Third Financial’s Tercero platform and the subsequent market search, LGT Vestra has decided to keep its incumbent solution, JHC Systems’ Figaro. Figaro will continue to support front, middle and back office operations of the UK and Jersey-based wealth manager. The company was known as Vestra Wealth until recently. In […]

MoneyConf 2016: Woe to the slow in wealth management

Speed is of the essence if firms want to capitalise on opportunities in wealth management, was one theme from MoneyConf 2016 in Madrid. More than 1,800 attendees were at the compact and colourful venue, La Nave, for the two-day event. In a panel on “The next generation of wealth management”, Kim Fournais, CEO and co-founder […]

Will AI make active managers prove their worth?

Research released late last year suggested that almost two thirds (62%) of a survey of 90 German institutional investors predict greater usage of artificial intelligence (AI) for short-term decision-making, and 17% for medium-term investment decisions. Universal Investments, the asset manager behind the research, said that “the industry’s future thus certainly appears to be closely linked […]

Australian wealth manager Crestone live with Avaloq Banking Suite

Crestone, a wealth management business created out of UBS Wealth Management Australia, is now open for business, underpinned by Avaloq’s flagship core banking system. Avaloq Banking Suite supports front-to-back office operations of Crestone, multi-asset and multi-currency. Peter Scott, the vendor’s GM for Asia Pacific, says that Crestone was among the first users to apply Avaloq Banking […]

Temenos signs new core banking client in Hong Kong, BMO Asia Pacific

Bank of Montreal Asia Pacific, part of Canada’s BMO Financial Group, will implement Temenos’ flagship core banking system, T24. The bank is based in Hong Kong and focuses on the high-net-worth segment in Hong Kong and Singapore. It has around 1,000 clients. It is understood that the bank went through a selection process prior to […]

UBS invests in digital tech firm SigFig, develops new platform for advisors

UBS Wealth Management Americas (WMA) and tech company SigFig has formed a “strategic alliance” to develop digital technology for UBS WMA, its financial advisors and their clients. San Francisco-based SigFig specialises in wealth management software. It will create and customise digital tools and services for UBS WMA’s 7,000 advisors. UBS WMA’s remit is domestic US and […]

Core banking vendor IPBS signs reseller agreement with eShore

International Private Banking Systems (IPBS), a Caribbean software vendor focused on wealth management and private banking sectors, has joined forces with eShore, an IT services provider to offshore international banks and FIs. According to the agreement, Cayman Islands-based eShore will be marketing and selling IPBS’s flagship core banking system, also dubbed IPBS, across a number […]