Financial services firm Perpetual will outsource the platform administration services for clients of its Private Wealth advice business to Macquarie Investment Management.
The decision would help transfer development costs to a third party and redirect resources towards pursuing growth opportunities, Perpetual managing director and chief executive Chris Ryan said.
"By outsourcing the provision of these services, we avoid ongoing system spend and more closely align operating costs to actual revenues," Ryan said.
He said the decision would also allow Perpetual to decommission PACT, its older platform administration system.
"In the context of possible regulatory changes and rapidly evolving client needs, the cost of maintaining PACT's functionality at required levels would have been prohibitive," he said.
"That impediment does not exist for a solution of Macquarie's scale."
Macquarie will service $8.7 billion of Perpetual Private Wealth's funds under advice.
Additionally, the deal will improve the experience of both Perpetual Private Wealth's advisers and clients, as Macquarie will develop additional features and infrastructure.
"The industry-leading proposition we will develop allows us to widen the range of products and assets offered, supports a multi-platform environment and ensures we can target specific customer segments in a more efficient way," Perpetual Private Wealth group executive and head of retail sales Geoff Lloyd said.
"We are confident that these improvements to the adviser and client experience will reflect the breadth of our offering and the quality of advice delivered, and as a result support our funds under advice flows."
He said the enhanced platform would allow Perpetual to offer additional products such as a super wrap, which was expected to be available by the third quarter of 2012.
