Administration provider Praemium has signed an agreement with Powerwrap to offer a fully consolidated wrap platform.
The platform will offer access to direct equities administration, wholesale managed funds and a separately managed account (SMA) capability.
Powerwrap analysed what was available in the SMA technology market and concluded that Praemium's was a superior platform, according to Powerwrap chief executive Andrew Varlamos.
"Our value-add is not in building the technology, but in presenting the right technology in the right way, integrated with other important elements of what will become an optimal solution," he said.
BlackRock's exclusive three-year agreement to use its proprietary V-Wrap and SMA technology expired earlier this month.
Praemium chief executive Arthur Naoumidis said he hopes to sign three more licensees in the new year. BlackRock continues to hold a licence.
"I want three of these players to be large-scale organisations, with their own broad geographic distribution. BlackRock, while it is a great fund manager, does not have great distribution," he said.
Naoumidis said most of Praemium's clients are high-net-worth advisory firms, whose clients are large enough to use wholesale funds directly.
However, in the current cost-conscious market, a lot of mainstream planning firms have approached Praemium, looking for access to wholesale managed funds, he said.
"The problem is that we are a virtual wrap; we do not have the custody structure to do the pooling that you need... and that is what Powerwrap can provide its clients and Praemium's clients."
