Financial management software company IRESS Market Technology (ASX:IRE) has launched a new Wealth Management division in the UK.
The new department will provide IRESS' XPLAN wealth management platform to the UK financial advice market.
IRESS recently secured a deal to supply XPLAN to UK-based retail financial advice distributor SBG, which has a 12,000-member advisor distribution network.
Announcing the launch, IRESS managing director Andrew Walsh said the company also expects to benefit from regulatory changes to the UK financial advice market, due to be enacted in 2013.
Because many advisory firms will need to start operating under fee-based models under the new regime, IRESS believes they will require new software to support the operational change. “The UK represents a strategic growth opportunity,” Walsh said.
The former board of UK-based financial services consultancy AT8 Group have agreed to wind up their existing operations and become the key executives of IRESS' UK division.
IRESS plans to spend 2012 concentrating on localisation and commencement of rollout, and expects to start receiving license fees from SBG from 2013.
The company warned the expected initial license fees will not be enough to cover costs in the early years, so the parent will provide up to $5 million in ebitda funding per year during the establishment phase.
IRE shares grew 0.38% on Tuesday to $7.880.