Rubik Financial Limited, the ASX-listed global provider of financial technology and software, today announced its further expansion into the wealth management space in Australia by entering into a binding agreement to acquire Visor Desktop financial planning software (formerly COIN Desktop) from Macquarie's Banking and Financial Services Group.
Visor is a comprehensive suite of financial planning tools and software solutions for independent or boutique advisers, and is based on Rubik's COIN financial planning software system that Rubik purchased from Macquarie in 2012.
COIN is a respected technology service provider in the Australian financial planning software market with an established client base and leading position in the institutional segment of this market.
As part of the 2012 COIN acquisition agreement, Macquarie continued to service the majority of COIN's boutique (independent financial advice) clients, under a licence from COIN, with the renamed software Visor.
Wayne Wilson, Managing Director Wealth with Rubik Financial said this agreement means Rubik will now service the boutique independent financial advice clients that were retained by Macquarie as part of the COIN transaction.
This is the third acquisition for Rubik in the wealth management space.
"The acquisition of COIN in 2012 expanded Rubik's wealth offering to the financial institution market and created significant scale across the group," Mr Wilson said.
"The acquisition of market leading scaled and online advice provider, Provisio, announced earlier this year, will place Rubik as a leader in the provision of scaled wealth advice software in the superannuation fund market. This will complement its existing leadership position in the institutional market for comprehensive wealth advice software.
"The acquisition of Visor broadens Rubik's presence into the IFA market, complements the recently announced acquisition of Provisio and means that Rubik is the sole provider of COIN based solutions in the market," Mr. Wilson said.
The transition from Macquarie to Rubik is expected to be seamless with Rubik already providing a hosted service to its institutional customer base and offering roles to Macquarie customer facing staff.
Craig Coleman, Chairman of Rubik, said, "Rubik is a dedicated financial software company, and COIN and Provisio are industry leaders in their respective markets. The acquisition brings to Rubik a strong annuity revenue base and recurrent earnings and provides Rubik with greater scale.
"Our initial focus will be on delivering already committed product development programs and preparing our products for changes that flow from the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reforms. Beyond this, we will review technology opportunities based on customer feedback and market opportunity, whilst ensuring ongoing support to clients," Mr. Coleman said.