Financial services technology company Spitfire Corporation has acquired SMSF administration technology firm Wealthtrac for an undisclosed amount.
Following the acquisition, Spitfire has appointed Wealthtrac chief executive Matthew Johnson as its chief executive and stated it would retain the Wealthtrac brand and business as a fully owned subsidiary.
Johnson added that Wealthtrac planned to build on its suite of products on offer to non-aligned financial advisers using the backing of a larger company that had a focus on technology and “I will continue to fulfil my roles within Wealthtrac,. however, I’ll now be responsible for the overall direction of Spitfire through my appointment as CEO.”
Spitfire executive director Laurence Milne said the deal supports the company’s ambition to enhance its distribution capability prior to a planned initial public offering in the fourth quarter of this year.
“We see three key benefits for Spitfire from our acquisition of Wealthtrac – an immediate boost to funds under management, the addition of substantial profitable revenue plus the broad distribution network of self-licensed advisers who will support our future growth,’’ Milne said.
Commenting on the appointment of Johnson, who has been Wealthtrac managing director and chief executive since 2005, Spitfire chair Graham Maloney said: “It is a pivotal time for the company as we take our digital wealth platform to a broader market.
“Matt is an accomplished financial services executive with strong leadership skills and a successful track record of delivering significant growth in collaboration with clients.”
Spitfire has also hired Anil Sagaram as its new chief product officer from BT financial Group, where he led the product development and design teams. Sagaram has 20 years of experience in the wealth management industry and has worked at Morgan Stanley, Macquarie Bank and GBST.
Wealthtrac has been operational in the SMSF sector for more than 15 years and has developed wealth products for SMSF advisers. Its multi-dealer platform business holds $2 billion in funds under management and is used by over 6000 advisers.
