Fidelity International has signed a new agreement with Australia-listed Bravura Solutions Limited to acquire a licence to develop and continue to operate its industry-leading Sonata platform for £29m.
The new agreement, which took effect on 6 August, will allow Fidelity to build on Bravura’s investment in Sonata, which underpins Fidelity’s UK Adviser Solutions and Personal Investing platforms. The licence allows Fidelity to use, modify, and further develop Sonata to meet the evolving needs of its advisers and retail investors.
As part of the new agreement, a small number of Bravura’s team who are already supporting Fidelity in India and the UK will transfer to Fidelity over the course of the next twelve months to ensure ongoing business continuity. In parallel Bravura will continue to provide technical and operational expertise to Fidelity as it maintains and develops Sonata to meet its future needs.
Fidelity selected Bravura’s market-leading wealth and investment administration system, Sonata, in 2013 as part of a joint multi-million, multi-year investment programme, enhancing the platform for its advisers and their clients. This development programme has delivered enhanced capability, as well as an extended range of assets.
This has helped support Fidelity’s success in recent years, enabling the transition from funds supermarket to wrap platform, including new features such as cash management options and discretionary fund management services.
Stuart Warner, head of global platform solutions, Fidelity International, said: “We’re wholly committed to the continuous development of our UK platforms and will continue to enhance the products and services we offer to meet the changing needs of our advisers and clients.
“Sonata is integral to our platform business. This new agreement will allow us (Fidelity) to bring Sonata development in-house and align further technology investment with our strategic objectives, while delivering new solutions.
“We selected Sonata in 2013 and continue to enjoy a productive and collaborative relationship with Bravura, which has allowed us to improve our adviser and client experience and support the advice process. We look forward to continuing to work in close partnership as our relationship with Bravura evolves.”
Andrew Russell, group CEO and MD, Bravura, said: “This milestone agreement allows Fidelity to continue to leverage best-in-class technologies, while allowing us to streamline and simplify our enterprise Sonata software platform for the betterment of our other existing and new enterprise wealth clients. Fidelity remains a key client of ours and one we are excited to work closely with in the future.”
Bravura Solutions’ Sonata is a digital wealth and pensions management platform used extensively in the UK financial services sector to manage a variety of financial products (including ISAs, SIPPS, bonds and more), ensure regulatory compliance, and drive operational efficiency through automation and advanced integration capabilities.
Under the new terms, Bravura will retain all intellectual property rights to the software made available to Fidelity. Customary non-compete and non-circumvention provisions apply to the licensing arrangement.
