Praemium: An All-in-One Integrated Managed Accounts Platform

Currently the major regulatory theme in the UK, Australia, and other less mature markets is about separating financial advice from product and removing potential conflicts of interest. Emerging as a promising disruptor in the global market with their unique proprietary integrated managed accounts technology, Praemium allows advisers to meet the needs of their entire client base efficiently and focus on advice rather than portfolio management and administration. This change in focus is beginning to create greater alignment with what clients truly value and has led financial advisers to outsource investment administration and management to Managed Accounts solutions. “Our investment platform supports financial advisers in the delivery of a more engaging client advice experience and professional portfolio management, alongside tailored reporting via online digital service," states Michael Ohanessian, CEO of Praemium.

As the custodial-based SMA is built on the same underlying technology platform as the non-custodial reporting and corporate actions capability, Praemium is able to facilitate a consolidated view of custodial and non-custodial investments for financial advisers and their clients. This can be very powerful for more sophisticated investors who often have structures like Self-Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSFs). In fact, the company has the largest Separately Managed Accounts (SMA) FUM in the Australian market at $5.6 billion (>30 percent share) and has more than $8 billion globally including a further $2.6 billion offshore. It also has the largest non-custody investment reporting capability via its platform with more than $100 billion of assets being reported on.

Traditional wrap platforms, which handle basic assets transactions with higher admin and transaction costs, have always considered managed accounts as a high-level feature rather than a transformational business solution and hence have failed to manage custody and non-custody investments efficiently. Praemium is simplifying this experience for investors and financial advisers by providing one integrated managed accounts platform. This investment platform provides a comprehensive choice of Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs), Individually Managed Accounts (IMAs) and Unified Managed Accounts (UMAs) with professional investment management, individual investment options, sophisticated reporting, and greater transparency of underlying investment holdings. This is complemented by Praemium’s market-leading portfolio rebalancing engine and unique corporate actions management as well as a value-for-money experience with Managed Accounts fee savings relative to wraps at all levels, including administration, investment management, and trading.

As the only Australian provider that also has SMAs domiciled offshore, Praemium is well placed to understand international investment trends and has assisted in the development of SMA model portfolios of international equities managed by high-quality investment managers on its Australian SMA. These investment managers can access 24 exchanges around the world via the Praemium platform which is supported by the most robust model portfolio rebalancing engine in the market. Ohanessian claims this is the start of a growing trend. “Our model portfolio rebalancing engine, corporate actions management capability, and high-quality reporting makes us stand apart from our competitors,” states Ohanessian. This is evidenced by a number of large institutions who have adopted Praemium’s SMA capability to manage their clients’ accounts.

Praemium has also developed a high-quality client-centric CRM system with simple financial planning tools that is gaining traction in various markets. By integrating CRM with an investment platform, the company aims to enhance productivity and elevate the user experience to the next level. Ohanessian concludes, “One of the major struggles for advice firms is having to use multiple systems to serve investor and business needs. We believe that our clients deserve to have one fully integrated, easy-to-use system for their entire business, and we are actively developing this for the near future: this is the ultimate vision of Praemium.”