Superannuation and wealth management software provider Synchronised Software has formed an alliance with IBM to market and deliver financial services applications in the Asia Pacific region.
The alliance will bring together IBM’s infrastructure and services delivery expertise and Synchronised Software’s Capital application to provide a full range of software development, hardware, systems integration, implementation and service offerings, and will operate across Asia including Australia, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and India.
Synchronised Software business development manager John Parrent says the alliance will capitalise on what Synchronised Software sees as an important opportunity — the growth of wealth management in Asia.
“Traditionally, the Chinese never believed in things like planning for retirement and life insurance because of the belief that the family would look after them, but with the cultural revolution and the one child policy there is no longer a family to provide for them into retirement,” Parrent says.
“In Korea, because the Korean war ended eight years after World War II, their baby boom was later than ours, so they’re also now in the stage where they realise that they have to plan very seriously for retirement.”
However, Parrent says the immediate impact of the alliance will be locally in Australia where Synchronised Software has a 60 per cent share of the public sector retirement savings and pensions member management market.
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