IRESS acquires DMS
Andrew Walsh
IRESS has announced the acquisition of Australian remuneration management provider Dealer Management Systems (DMS) for 1,083,334 shares in IRESS (approximately 0.009 per cent).
IRESS Wealth Management general manager Andrew Walsh said this acquisition immediately broadens IRESS' provision of remuneration management and dealer-pay systems and provides immediate synergies with its next-generation commission product, CommPay.
"The acquisition further demonstrates our commitment and resolve to aggregate views of funds under management, adviser productivity and client profitability in fully integrated adviser and dealer desktops," he said.
Included in this DMS acquisition is the FundClick application form technology developed by InvestmentLink.
According to Walsh, this represents a strategic software acquisition to fast track the delivery of a fully integrated environment for end users to interact with product providers, adding to the existing interest and activity generated by the External Platform Interface (EPI) format and transmission initiatives and standards.
"Application form processing is promoted by both product and platform providers and advisory groups as a 'must have' to drive efficiency. Our goal is to ensure that we offer end-users an efficient mechanism to produce client-centric forms to interact with any product provider - whether this is a pre-filled paper form with information already keyed into our software or a comprehensive message sent electronically to a provider from our software.
"Some platform providers have delivered online applications populated from our financial planning desktops, XPLAN and VisiPlan. Through tight integration of FundClick into these desktops, we see an opportunity to fast-track this process and extend across many more providers ..."
InvestmentLink chief executive Peter Philip said while DMS has been a very successful niche player in developing commission software packages, the growing dealer group demand for integrated management information is increasingly a challenge for a standalone software provider.
"This evolution of DMS will see the best-of-breed strength of DMS incorporated within IRESS' wealth management solutions as a compelling one-stop-shop for dealer groups," he said.
Recommended for you
Licensee switching may be on the rise, but AFSLs are still finding ways to make the process difficult with small licensees identified as the biggest culprits.
While technology is seen by many as the key to solving efficiency challenges for advisers, a consultancy head has argued that advisers themselves are contributing to this burden through unnecessary overcomplications of the advice process.
Findings from Russell Investments has shown clients are struggling to understand fee structures when receiving advice, even if the advisers believe they are transparent.
AMP’s advice platform has unveiled a low-fee investment menu aimed at expanding advisers’ client base by targeting individuals with less complex needs, in response to adviser feedback.
