Equiniti To Launch Unprecedented Pooled Custody And Back-Office Service For Wealth Managers And Stockbrokers - In Response To Market Demand

Equiniti, the UK’s leading share registrar and financial services outsourcing specialist, is set to launch a new technology platform to provide a centralised pooling of custody and business processes as well as a customer interface.

The new platform, the first of its kind, is designed to improve client relationships and reduce the cost of processing for wealth managers and stockbrokers. 
 
The platform named ‘Equiniti Wealth Solution’ has been developed in response to growing regulation and the requirement for a commoditised back office which isn’t prohibitively expensive. Equiniti is currently working with potential users and also calling on new users to help design a universal platform suitable for the whole industry.
 
Mark Taylor, Managing Director, Equiniti Investment Services, highlights: “The wealth and broking space is facing unprecedented pressures which current back office solutions are simply not addressing.  Equiniti Wealth Solution provides an opportunity to outsource a number of non-core functions and allows brokers to focus on managing clients’ assets, which is where their value lies. As one of the UK’s leading registrars with 20m holdings and processing significant volumes of transactions, we are already fulfilling this role within the retail environment and have systems and processes which deliver cost reductions.  Our existing processes provide outsourced custody, settlement for stocks, funds and fixed interest securities and we are working with brokers to use this to develop a universal solution that uses the existing technology and satisfies their requirements.”
 
The new service also provides an investor interface which utilises the resources of recent purchase peterevans. The Equiniti Wealth Solution will:
 
•          Recognise the cost imperatives for wealth managers and retail brokers
•          Allow retention of in-house systems for portfolio management and executing orders with the market
•          Simple CREST interface
•          Enquiry facilities for brokers and their clients
•          Process corporate actions
•          Provide a high level of MI and reporting.