Kiwi FinTech firm FNZ has acquired JHC Systems, a UK-based provider of platform software to the wealth management industry.

The acquisition should result in the combined group becoming one of the top broking platforms in the UK, when respective existing customers are combined. The financial details were not disclosed.

JHC, which is headquartered in London, provides the core technology platform to some of the UK and Ireland’s biggest wealth managers and platforms, including AJ Bell, Alliance Trust Savings, Brooks Macdonald, Charles Stanley, Davy, FIS Platform Securities, Interactive Investor, LGT Vestra and Quilter.

Its software solutions - Figaro, Neon and Xenon - facilitate portfolio management, account administration, regulatory compliance and risk analysis for clients and financial advisers.

JHC now has more than half a million end users and £160 billion in assets under management on platforms powered by JHC software. It employs around 240 people at its offices in London, Birmingham, Newcastle and Dubai.

Meanwhile, FNZ employs around 1,600 people to help financial institutions serve their wealth management customers. It is responsible for more than £380 billion in assets under administration, held by around seven million customers of some of the world’s largest financial institutions.

Adrian Durham, chief executive of FNZ, said: “We see a great opportunity to not only consolidate our combined position in the UK market, but to take JHC technology propositions into new strategic territories - such as APAC and continental Europe - and into new product areas.”

John Blackman, chief executive at JHC, added: “FNZ will support JHC in enhancing and growing our SaaS offerings and gives JHC the opportunity to offer new, broader functionality to our clients.”

“This deal will provide the scale required for JHC to compete in the increasingly competitive FinTech world, particularly in wealth management where regulatory compliance and cyber security are of utmost importance.”

Matt Stamp, partner at Acuity, the advisers on the deal, called it a significant transaction for the sector, which has seen a sustained trend of mergers and acquisitions.

“Scaled businesses such as JHC, with networks of established relationships and deep domain expertise, rarely come up for sale, which was reflected by the number of interested acquirers with different strategic visions for the business,” he stated, adding: “Buyers continue to outnumber available assets, and with strong headwinds driven by global wealth managers appetite for tech solutions, I expect this trend to continue.”

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