Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Odyssey Asset Management Systems have signed an agreement to jointly market and deliver Odyssey's information technology solutions to financial services firms that cater to wealthy individuals.
Under the terms of the marketing alliance, Accenture is a preferred implementation partner for Odyssey's suite of wealth management applications, which include portfolio reporting, portfolio management and client relationship management. The two companies will jointly market the solutions to private banks, asset managers and large brokerage firms in Europe, North America and Asia.
The alliance combines Accenture's implementation capability and knowledge of the financial services industry with Odyssey's leading-edge wealth management technology solutions, which enable wealth managers to quickly access and analyze client and portfolio information, resulting in better client service and more automated reporting capabilities.
Despite a rebound in the worldwide private banking sector, cost-to-income ratios are as much as 20 percent higher than in the retail banking sector and many firms are facing additional cost pressures due to anti-money laundering regulations and new tax and transparency requirements. Client relationship management capabilities are also a high priority, as approximately 10 percent of affluent clients switch advisors each year.
"Helping financial firms create closer, more intimate relationships with their wealthy and affluent clients is the name of the game," said Bill Cline, managing partner of Accenture's Global Capital Markets practice. "Working together we can generate new value for our clients and forge powerful and cost-effective new solutions for this growing sector."
"Accenture is an ideal preferred partner as we focus on the key growth challenges of the world's top wealth managers," said Antoine Duchateau, CEO of Odyssey Asset Management Systems. "This relationship allows us to continue our success of the past seven years, while expanding further into Europe and the United States and enhancing our ability to scale for the largest enterprises."
The alliance announced today formalizes a relationship between the two companies that began in 1996 and has led to a dozen joint wealth management systems projects in Europe. Most recently, Accenture and Odyssey implemented a new portfolio performance reporting system for ABN AMRO's Private Client group in the Netherlands based upon Odyssey's Triple'A application.
"The Accenture-Odyssey combination has served us very well," said Arnoud de Roy van Zuydewijn, chief operating officer, ABN AMRO Private Clients Netherlands. "Their commitment to delivering tools that support our customer intimacy strategy and their competency to do so rapidly on a large-scale basis is why we have chosen them to help us continue to enhance our private banking operations."