Iress and Count extend partnership

Count, which has more than 550 advisers servicing approximately 130,000 clients following its recent acquisition of Diverger, has been an Xplan client since 2011. Iress said the extension “reaffirms Count’s commitment to Iress’ advice software to power its financial advice business”.

With the extension, Iress will now be working in partnership with Count to provide professional development programs and events to Count advisers to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Count will also expand its use of Xplan across its wealth management division to support the business’ growth.

Executive general manager, wealth APAC for Iress, Kelli Willmer, said Iress is proud to continue to partner with Count as they continue to grow.

“We’re proud to extend and grow the relationship we’ve built with Count over more than a decade. Count has strong growth ambitions, and we’re delighted to provide the advice technology infrastructure to support this,” Willmer said.

“We’re also pleased to work with Count on optimising their use of technology to drive efficiency and profitability for their advisers. We look forward to continuing to work closely with key customers like Count to evolve our software and service offerings, empowering them to deliver an exceptional experience for their advisers and clients.”

Count group head of advice Andrew Kennedy said partnering with the right technology services is essential to delivering quality advice.

“Xplan has been our client servicing hub of choice for many years to ensure our network of financial advisers are supported with the most powerful, efficient, and secure tools in the market,” Kennedy said.

“We know that with Xplan, we can continue to grow at scale and with efficiency while Iress, as our partner, will continue to listen and improve the product to match our needs.”

This announcement follows Iress selling its platform business to Praemium in April for an initial $1 million in cash consideration and a further payment of up to an additional $20 million over an 18-month period as milestones are met.

Speaking on the sale earlier this year, Iress group chief executive Marcus Price said the platform divestment is in line with its strategy of refocusing on Iress’ core businesses of wealth, trading, and market data and superannuation.

“This transaction represents another milestone in our progress towards a simpler, more focused Iress. As part of our refreshed strategy, we are committed to streamlining operations, reducing costs, and managing our portfolio of non-core assets for release of capital to reduce debt.”