Praemium targeting acquisition opportunities in non-custodial solutions
Praemium has stated it is seeking accretive acquisition opportunities in the area of non-custodial solutions where it believes it can grow its market share.
In the firm’s half-year results for FY25, it said statutory net profit after tax was $5.8 million, funds under administration were $62.1 billion, and revenue and other income was $52.3 million.
Speaking on a webinar, chief financial officer David Coulter – who announced he will be departing after three years on 7 March – said non-custodial solutions are an area of interest for the platform where it is seeing “reinvigorated growth”.
Some 12 new firms were signed during the six-month period and funds under administration on wealth reporting and administration solution Scope+ was $31.9 billion. The number of clients using non-custodial portfolios on Scope rose to 65,706 and 9,416 on Scope+.
“The pipeline remains very strong with continued engagement and success with stockbroking clients. We absolutely dominate the market in this space and we are looking to continue that dominance.
“We are on the look out for accretive acquisition opportunities in non-custodial solutions where we are particularly interested. We believe we can add more value to clients and can grow strongly in this part of the market.”
It is also seeking to hold a leadership position in alternative assets where it has entered a strategic partnership with alternative investment firm Stropro. This will help financial advisers to access structured products and integrate Stropro’s experience in the products and relationship with investment banks to the Praemium platform.
Regarding the OneVue acquisition, which it acquired from Iress in April 2024, it said the integration was tracking to plan and it was also on the lookout for similar acquisition opportunities in that area.
“We still see potential for $3 million in synergies and we have a line of sight in how we are going to achieve that which makes it a profitable acquisition for us,” Coulter said.
Commenting on Praemium’s position in the market overall, chief executive Anthony Wamsteker, said: “We don’t feel the opportunity has gone and that market share is locked in on a trajectory for the next five to 10 years. We feel that it’s very dynamic, and there will be significant market share shifts over that time.
“If we can get in the DeLorean five years down the track, we will see success in growing our share of the market from where it is now.”
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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