The UK parent company of Prestwood Australia will close its local subsidiary following a review of its operations.
The UK firm has been developing software for the market over the past 25 years and it hoped the introduction of its software would achieve the same remarkable growth in Australia that was achieved in Britain, the company said in a statement.
"It has been decided that the company's resources should be concentrated on further developing its core business," it said.
Clients of Prestwood Australia were notified of the closure and were advised to move to other financial planning software providers by the end of September 2009.
Clients have already contacted other firms, according to Iress senior business development executive Michael Kinens.
"As a larger player in the market we are already seeing a number of their clients contact us. We will be working with them to ensure a seamless transition of their software to Iress," Kinens said.
There are also lessons for financial planners following the closure of the software business, he said.
"Financial planning firms can also learn from what happened with Prestwood. Although a firm may have the financial backing, scale is important, particularly with rising costs," Kinens said.
"We will probably see more firms having to make the tough decision to ultimately wind up."
