By Rebecca Evans
RESEARCH and ratings house Standard & Poor’s(S&P) is continuing its move into the retail market after striking a deal with financial planning software firm Xplan Technologies to offer its reports and ratings on managed funds, hybrid securities, retirement products and structured credit products.
The alliance follows the launch of S&P’s subscription-based web service earlier this year and, according to S&P managing director Chris Dalton, this push into the financial planning space is likely to continue.
“Our partnership with Xplan will deliver significant benefits to both parties. Standard & Poor’s will gain additional penetration for its ratings and research among the planner and dealer group audience,” Dalton says.
“Standard & Poor’s was actively pursuing a number of strategies to deliver its content to the retail market, whether this be via our subscription web site or distribution arrangements with independent third parties, such as Xplan,” he says.
Last year, S&P made its long-awaited push into the Australian retail space, formally launching Australian Fund Management Ratings — a rating and research tool aimed at planners and dealer groups.
For Xplan, the alliance is one of a number of recent deals, which includes the software provider adopting the risk profiling system of FinaMetrica in February to meet regulatory gap analysis requirements.
