Platform SEI’s commercial director has said the level of new business deals being struck by the company is the strongest he has ever seen it.
SEI is a fund plaform that provides asset management and investment processing services for institutional and private-client wealth managers.
Martin Steer said his firm is benefiting from a bigger move to outsource these parts of a finanical services business, and that SEI is in talks with companies which would never have previously considered outsourcing.
He said there would probably be three more companies moving onto SEI’s platform this year.
This includes two start-ups and one medium-sized wealth management firm.
Mr Steer said: “It is probably the strongest pipeline [of new business] I have ever seen at SEI.
“The pipeline is not only bigger – it has got some big players in there who previously said they would never outsource.
“A lot these firms are coming to us and it is not a question of if they outsource, it is a question of what and where they outsource.”
He said this change of heart is driven by companies not wanting to spend their time discussing the latest regulatory changes and to focus on investing.
Mr Steer also predicted that increasing numbers of firms working with SEI would want to offer their own fund management, as financial advice and technology firm True Potential does.
He said: “I think [True Potential] has got a real success story because they own their own funds and they are better placed to deal with fee compression because they own more of the supply chain.”
This morning SEI’s UK Private Banking business revealed it had increased its assets under administration by £6.2bn, or 20 per cent, in the first half of this year.
This has brought its total AUA to £37.9bn as of the end of June.
SEI, which provides outsourced investment technology to firms such as Tilney, Brewin Dolphin and WH Ireland, also saw its platform hit 300,000 end-clients for the first time during the six-month period.
damian.fantato@ft.com
