Nucleus has today (21 August) revealed its best ever half-year performance, with inflows, turnover assets under management all up significantly and profits soaring 85 per cent to £1m, which the adviser-built wrap said was largely attributable to a key technology upgrade.
During the last six months the firm said it undertook its biggest ever technology upgrade, adopting the ‘Sonata’ software from long-term supplier Bravura Solutions to help introduce more responsive development while handling higher volumes of new clients, assets and transactions.
Mr Neilson said in practice the upgrade means the firm can take on new clients without having to recruit lots of customer service personnel.
“The systems mean we have a balance between technology and manual intervention, giving straight-through processing and speeding up processes.”
Inflows for the first half of this year totalled £965m, up 15 per cent from £837m during the same period in 2013. This increase in sales performance saw the adviser-built wrap platform’s assets under administration hit £7bn, up 32 per cent from H1 2013.
Turnover also increased by 26 per cent to £11.1m for the first half of this year, up from £8.8m in 2013, driving an 85 per cent increase in operating profits to £1m.
Mr Neilson said that the firm’s other competitive advantage is that it only deals with a few “high quality” adviser businesses. “We’ve been careful to select and engage with those we see as having positive momentum, then we get to know them well and align ourselves with their goals.”
“The advisers we’ve got on our platform have an average age of 46, which is 10 years younger than the industry average, so they are generally more tech savvy and fit with our outlook.”
Mr Neilson, the firm’s business development director, told FTAdviser that he sees the platform marketplace as relatively immature, with not that many yet making steady profits as they do not have the technology backing to grow.”
David Ferguson, chief executive, added: “While we have experienced some inevitable issues we are working hard to get these quickly behind us and we will then be beautifully poised for the next phase of our growth.”
He said that as regulatory changes in the retirement space increase adviser platform usage, due diligence is more important than ever.
“While others seek to obfuscate and massage the truth, it is a great privilege to lead a business which is the second-fastest growing in the sector and which is able to engage honestly, transparently and with clarity in that vital process.”
