Wellington-based investment platform provider, Adminis, has launched a custody operation, luring over a top Public Trust executive to run the new service.
Martin Kay, Adminis chief, said the firm, which boasts more than $750 million in funds under administration, added on the custody capability after experiencing strong demand from its growing client base for the service.
Kay confirmed market rumours that David Campbell, Public Trust head of custody since 2000, would join Adminis to run the new operation at the end of this month.
“We’re delighted to have David on board,” he said. “His long experience in the custody space – both in NZ and offshore – will provide a robust launching point for the new Adminis service.”
Adminis has appointed BNP Paribas as sub-custodian to provide global custody and asset-servicing for its client-base of mainly small-to-medium investment managers and not-for-profit investors.
In effect, Kay said Adminis would act as a custody “aggregator” for the small-to-medium market who would otherwise be unable to access the services of global players such as BNP Paribas due to size thresholds.
“BNP Paribas is a natural fit for us,” he said.
Adminis would register as a custodian with the Financial Markets Authority, Kay said.
According to Matan Gan-El, Adminis chief revenue officer, the firm had been inundated with queries about supplying a custody service.
Gan-El, who previously helped develop the globally successful FNZ investment platform, said linking custody with the broader Adminis offering would be attractive to both existing and prospective clients.
“There’s a strong market drive towards efficient and cost-effective administration,” he said. “Regulation is also driving that demand with the requirement for all investment managers to have an independent custodian.”
Gan-El said there was an “immediate business opportunity” in New Zealand for Adminis with expansion offshore possible over the medium to long term.
While Adminis only opened its website to the public in March this year, the investment platform has a longer history after being built to house the assets of a group of TradeMe investors – including Kay – within wealth advisory firm Crema Capital.
Adminis retained links with TradeMe associates with backing from Wellington-based private investment group, Movac, which was an early investor in the online auction business.
The group also has several Xero associations including chair, Sam Knowles, who fills the same role for the listed cloud accounting firm. Knowles was Kiwibank’s inaugural CEO, amongst other career highlights.
Matt Vaughan, Xero general counsel, is also on the Adminis board along with former head of BNP Paribas NZ, Hugh Stevens.
Kay said Adminis was on track to break through $1 billion in funds under administration before the end of the year.