UK-based Lincoln Unit Trust Managers (LUTM) has launched an online service to enable customers and IFAs to purchase ISAs, unit trusts and corporate bonds via the Web.
The service was built using DPR Consulting's Financial Sales Online for Collective Investments sofware. The IT vendor also built an interface between its own software for online sales and Rufus, the Bank of New York's settlement system, which is used by LUTM.
Ian Bryce, IT manager at Lincoln Financial Group, says: "We wanted to offer our IFAs and investors access to information and transactional capabilities anywhere, anytime. Opening a Web-based channel to market was the natural choice. This new service will provide a more cost-effective and user-friendly means of staying in touch with IFAs and our direct customers, and reduces the need for paper-based communication."
The system will allow both IFAs and end-users to buy, sell or switch funds and obtain portfolios online. It also tracks client sessions, allowing fund managers to analyse the popularity of different products and to effectively cross-market new ones.
DPR Consulting's component-based software runs on Windows 2000 and NT operating systems.