MainstreamBPO, the independent fund administrator for about 350 funds, has appointed its corporate and legal advisers for a planned ASX listing later this year. The size and timing of the capital raising are not yet known.
While not exactly a fintech start-up, MainstreamBPO should attract some interest from investors who have been pouring money into the sector due to potential disruption to the major industry players, such as the banks, from advances in technology.
MainstreamBPO was started in 2005 by former management consultants Byram Johnston and Martin Smith and has grown to a firm with four offices in Australia and Asia, more than 100 staff and clients with assets of more than $50 billion. It is Australia’s largest independent full-service third-party administrator.
The corporate advisory firm appointed to oversee the IPO is Bligh Capital and the legal firm is M&A specialist Sekel Oshry.
Johnston said the wealth management sector was one of the more dynamic in Asia-Pacific, with funds under management expected to double over the next 10 years.
“MainstreamBPO has seen exceptional growth since its inception nine years ago,” Johnston said. “Increasing complexity and continued technological change has meant that the outsourcing of back office administration functions is an increasingly attractive and cost-effective proposition for fund managers and superannuation funds. MainstreamBPO has successfully supplemented its organic growth from these industry drivers by also expanding its operations through acquiring and integrating a number of its peers.”
Although administration companies tend to operate at the less-glamorous end of the funds management spectrum, their revenue streams are more steady and predictable than those of investment managers.
Johnston and Smith, who led the Asian expansion for a period, said they were committed to take the company through its next growth phase.
* Greg Bright is publisher of Investor Strategy News (Australia)