SimCorp is to continue providing fund and data services to the Australian supernannuation and investments platform Colonial First State (CFS), after an agreement to extend the partnership.
First established in 1873 as the Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society, CFS is now majority owned by an affiliate of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Under the partnership with SimCorp, CFS will have access to SimCorp’s Software as a Service (SaaS) and its cloud-based Datacare data management service — a cloud-based scalable data management service for investment reference and market data.
Datacare simplifies existing processes, and removes manual checking and duplication to reduce operational costs and improve efficiency.
CFS’ decision to migrate its core platform and data management infrastructure to Datacare will reduce the growing business risk associated with an increasingly complex environment for investment data, while supporting regulatory reporting.
SimCorp’s automated audit trails also aim to improve CFS’ operational controls, resulting in reduced technology risk.
Oliver Johnson, managing director of SimCorp Asia Pacific, comments: “As the industry is fast becoming more complex and competitive, partnering with specialist technology providers such as SimCorp empowers investment managers and asset owners to stay focused on their business. We are delighted that CFS has turned to SimCorp to secure an infrastructure that is future-proof.”
Andrew Morgan, chief financial officer, Colonial First State, says: “Re-platforming our funds services business gives us the opportunity to halve the time it takes to invest our customers’ funds. This partnership is a significant support to CFS’s goals to simplify our systems, and ensure long-term growth while delivering a better experience to our customers and advisers.”
