Coin Financial Planning Software has acquired a 50 per cent stake in back-office financial planning software provider Olicc.
Under the terms of the partnership, Olicc and Coin will deliver Olicc’s practice management product Comtrac, which includes modules for pipeline reporting and tracking of upfront/trail commissions.
The two businesses will continue to operate as separate entities, with Olicc expected to remain active in other markets including general insurance, though Coin is planning to implement interfacing functionality between the two businesses.
Coin managing director Tony Graham said: “Over time we will look at doing an interface that will be able to feed across, so that advisers don’t have to re-key the data, and so the core Olicc offering can take the actual commissions and provide the reconciliation of what the advisers receive.”
This integration is one of Coin’s first priorities, with Graham expecting this to be a phased delivery with the first stage to be completed within the next couple of months.
According to Graham, its move into the practice management space is a response to shifting adviser demand from systems addressing compliance through to those that help with business management.
“We have recently had a growing number of requests from our clients where they have wanted to build a practice management component into their daily business so they can start actively managing their revenue flow and their succession planning,” he said.
This is the first time Coin has acquired a stake in an external software provider instead of building its own solution, but Graham said this does not mark a fundamental shift in its approach.
“This is part of our broader integration, inter-operability approach; we don’t want to limit people by saying that you can only use Oricc if you use Coin,” he said.
“The relationship with Olicc will provide both partners with the ability to grow and provide a better service to our clients.”
Olicc managing director Cliff Garrels said it would continue to be a provider of practice management software for advisers “regardless of the front-end application that is used by the practice”.
