AM Corp's second generation wrap

AM Corporation will launch its ‘second generation wrap’ before the end of the year, says national manager information systems Paul Medcraft.

AM Corporation will launch its ‘second generation wrap’ before the end of the year, says national manager information systems Paul Medcraft.

“This wrap will be a totally web-based platform for advisers. It will include modelling, share and fund manager transactions, news and share feeds,” he says.

Nearly all of these services will be outsourced and Medcraft confirmed the company has had discussions with Investorweb and Hartley Poyton’s recently spun-off subsidiary JDV.

“Outsourcing is the winner in these platforms, but you have to know where you can get these services,” he says.

“We and all other fund managers will embrace the best providers where and when necessary.”

Medcraft says the new wraps will force fund managers to share resources to deliver the platforms in the future. This is the complete opposite to the nineties, where fund managers were arch-rivals, he says.

“We will become the database and collector of information, but the tools in the platform don’t need to be run by us,” Medcraft says.

The new platform is being developed by AM on the Internet, which Medcraft believes is a first. “Normally a product has been developed in head office, but we are holding between one and three meetings a day on the Internet with those developing the platform,” he says.

“Where the work is performed is now irrelevant as documents are modified on-screen between the various people taking part in the Internet meeting.”

Medcraft says if AM can achieve this level of intra-operability internally, the platform is going to be a powerful tool when it is offered to external advisers.

“This is a significant transitional jump for wrap accounts as previously all products were desktop based, but our platform is all about the Internet.”