NZX Wealth Technologies has shut down its old-fangled software after off-boarding the sole remaining Public Trust client earlier this month.
The move marks the end of a drawn-out transition process for the NZX-owned investment administrator, which has been gradually shifting the last clients from the legacy system to a modern technology platform over the previous 18 months.
Public Trust held about $800 million in administration on the obsolete NZX platform, previously known as Apteryx, on behalf of various underlying clients including financial advisers, iwi and Alvarium.
The NZX spent $1.5 million in 2015 to buy Apteryx from the previous owners who were largely associated with the now-defunct alternative asset manager, NZAM.
Almost at the get-go, however, the NZX set about building a new platform from scratch in a project that has cost about $30 million to date.
Originally known as Amadeus at launch in 1992, Apteryx was a pioneering investment platform in NZ, hosting funds from NZAM (which was bought by the Alvarium predecessor firm in 2018), Public Trust and some financial advisory firms.
But facing steep technology upgrade costs Apteryx required deeper pockets to compete in a market then dominated by Aegis (now Apex) and FNZ.
NZX Wealth Technologies last reported just under $10 billion under administration but is projecting funds to quadruple by the end of next year as a “large contracted client” and others come aboard.
Last year the NZX also confirmed it was seeking a ‘strategic partner’ to help grow the investment platform business.
Mark Lawrence, Public Trust head of custody, said the shift to a single NZX platform has brought considerable efficiencies to the group.
“The functionality is much better and the team doesn’t have to manage clients across two different systems,” Lawrence said.
He said Public Trust would work with NZX Wealth Technologies to further develop the platform.
The government-owned corporate trustee and estate management operation held about $832 million in its investment service as the end of June last year, according to the just-released annual report, compared to $866 million 12 months prior.
However, the broader Public Trust custody business has grown from about $11 billion when Lawrence joined three years ago to $25 billion today.
He said the growth in custody assets (Public Trust outsources global duties to BNP Paribas) reflected rising markets but also new clients in sectors such as tax pooling, retirement villages and escrow agents.
Before arriving at Public Trust in 2019 Lawrence served eight years as head of JP Morgan NZ, which primarily offers custody and clearing facilities in this country.
He said the Public Trust custody division employs 13 people with recruitment afoot for a further three roles across client servicing and operations.
In a statement, NZX Wealth Technologies chief, Lisa Turnbull, said the now-unified platform “ensures we can optimise our client and custody operations”.
“These projects can be complicated, with many moving parts,” Turnbull said. “We always focus on our clients’ needs and provide guidance and training on the new platform while ensuring client data is handled with due care and attention.”