For this issue of WealthTech Talks, we caught up with Tomas Edwards, EMEA Managing Director of Univeris.
In this interview, Edwards shared his insight into Univeris’ background and growth strategy. Edwards also shared his views on the future of wealth management and the inescapable role that AI will inevitably play.
Could you provide a brief introduction to your business?
Univeris was founded in Toronto in 1991 by Carmine Tullio (CEO), and we're still privately held. In 1996 we set out to build an enterprise platform for Total Financial Management for Canadian financial institutions and in that same year we launched the first real-time mutual fund dealer system in Canada. Over the years in ever-expanding functionality, amongst other features, we added web access, built-in compliance, and GIC and segregated funds processing.
Today, Univeris covers the entire front-to-back lifecycle. Enabled in part, through the acquisition in 2022 of TechRules – a Madrid-based software and services provider. Its primary product became Univeris Advisor, our front-office portfolio management system. Altogether we've served wealth managers for over 30 years. More than 25,000 advisors and 3 million investors across 12 countries now use our platform, with over C$450 billion (US$315 billion) in assets under administration.
In the wealth management sector, what types of clients do you primarily work with and target?
We hold a dominant position in Canada, serving the largest insurers and wealth managers alongside growing investment providers and others in the financial ecosystem. Elsewhere, we primarily focus on portfolio management, with the Univeris Advisor platform being used by private banks, wealth managers, and the retail investment divisions of substantial financial institutions.
We have an established client base in EMEA and Latin America, where we continue to pursue new relationships and growth. We have had great success in Spain and Germany in particular, where we are the technology behind the fastest growing robo-advisor, and in the UK where we were the original technology behind Nutmeg’s operations until their acquisition.
Why do your existing and target clients choose to work with you? What makes your solutions relevant and distinct from your competitors?
Our sole focus on “wealth” places us above peers when it comes to dedication and depth of understanding. Our flagship products Univeris Advisor and Univeris Enterprise, are a formidable suite that facilitates any investment proposition with ease. As they are also available independently and modularly, we provide flexibility and efficiency when it comes to varying business models. Specifically, those looking for internal data mastery and open technology find working with us appealing.
Then, the clear differentiators in our portfolio manager toolset, Univeris Advisor, also set us apart. Of course, this includes comprehensive portfolio management tools, understanding, reporting, monitoring, compliance, and so forth, but also an in-tool ability to create, send, authorise, and action investment proposals and full and complete re-balancing at scale at super-fast speeds.
What's next for your business? Can you share the firm's current focus and future plans, such as product development, market expansion, and strategic goals?
Today, we are placing a great of time and effort into further international expansion alongside the continuous development of our products. Inevitably, this means the increasing adoption of AI within our tools, which we are proud to say we have made phenomenal progress with. In conjunction with our clients, we are focusing AI inclusion in those areas that have the most practical and measurable benefit – typically those areas where we can remove administrative burden, but also where we can add true and real value to the investor. For example, we are working on a ‘best action’ feature that tells an advisor what their next step should be, considering the client’s history, situation, plans, market etc.
Based on your experience in the wealth management sector, what key opportunities and challenges do you foresee for firms today and in the next three years?
It should be of no surprise that the opportunity and challenge facing us all is related to AI. There are opportunities in how we adopt, trust, and use it to provide better services to the investors and challenges around the perceived danger that it might erode the wealth management sector. It won’t. WealthTech vendors like us need to harness its power to enable advisors to work smarter, to spend more time on relationship and trust, and to provide a level of detail and analysis at a speed that has not been available historically. The wealth manager will always be there. They provide a service for a fee, which should cover a degree of liability risk and a little towards anticipated performance. Those that succeed and survive are those who empower their advisors with the smartest tech stack, but let their team build and maintain relationships human-to-human.
About Univeris
Univeris is a software and service organization specializing in enterprise-class retail wealth management solutions for the financial services industry. Univeris builds technology that helps dealers and advisors operate with a competitive advantage. Univeris has been in business for over 30 years and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. In 2022, Univeris acquired Madrid-based TechRules (now Univeris España), a leader in portfolio management software for advisors. Its product, Univeris Advisor, is a front-office portfolio management system. The Univeris platform is used by over 25,000 mutual fund advisors and 3 million investors in 12 countries.
About the WealthTech Talks Interview Series
In the WealthTech Talks interview series, we interview senior executives from leading wealth management firms, solution providers, and WealthTech influencers to learn more about them, their journey, their perspectives on the market, and how they see the future of wealth management.
Read the latest editions in the series below!
