Financial software firms merge to form a new technology group to support the Channel Islands.

Financial software firms merge

Fusion Acusoft and Vega Solutions Limited have merged to form a new technology group that provides solutions to a wide range of financial services businesses in the Channel Islands and beyond.

This consolidation sees these innovative organisations coming together to create a single business that offers core software solutions to Banks, Trust and Company administration, Fund administration and Pension administration organisations. An expanding suite of regulation technology products including FATCA and CRS Tax reporting software and automation tools for the new Jersey digital registry further extend the portfolio under the Vega Solutions, Flyingboat and Acumen brands.

Fusion Acusoft’s Alan Rowe and Gary Munro are joined by David Collings as a fellow Director of the business. Alan Rowe reiterated that the deal brings together like-minded, client focussed teams. ‘We have known Vega for many years and we’re delighted we are now one. We have a real focus on client service and the expanded capability of the group provides exciting new opportunities for our clients which include some of the largest names in the Channel Islands & increasingly global financial services industry. The breadth and capability of our products provides the market with a unique alternative supplier.”

David Collings, added that merging with Fusion Acusoft brings real benefits to clients. “I’m delighted to be working with Alan and Gary to help drive the combined business forward. Our clients operate in a highly competitive and regulated industry that is undergoing constant challenges and change. We strongly believe that being part of a larger group will position us to better support this client base with innovative products and services.”

The new group is based in offices in St Peter Port, Guernsey and Reading in Berkshire.

This latest merger builds on the combination that created Fusion Acusoft in 2020 and underlines their commitment to building a bigger, stronger and more capable software business that can continue to support their client needs in the future. With a larger team, broader product set, and enhanced development capability across a range of new technologies, they will be applying this experience and capability as they evolve.

What this means for the market?

Over the past few years the TCSP (trust & corporate services provider) software market has been dominated by market leaders TrustQuay and Viewpoint. Whilst there are several potential challengers to their dominance none of them close to the capabilities and scale of these two.

This has potentially changed with the Fusion Acusoft / Vega merger and we now have a firm that has the ambition to make a dent in the market, particularly in the Crown Dependencies. Both organisations have a very loyal client base and a reputation for high quality delivery and good customer service.

At the very least the new group provides another credible option for wealth management clients and therefore is good news for everyone including their competitors.

What can we expect to see?

I don’t expect to see any immediate changes partly due to the time of year. We are entering the period when the pace of business naturally slows down, but I do expect the new management team to be working hard on their strategy and business plan for 2022.

What we are likely to see first is a new brand and name for the group. Hopefully it will be something more imaginative than a merger of their names, as happened when Fusion and Acusoft joined last year!

Both the Acumen and Flyingboat brands are geared towards operational efficiency, but Vega’s focus has been transforming client service through their web and mobile applications. Acumen has some experience with client portals but these are very much ‘first generation’ and nowhere near as functionally rich as Vega’s technology. I therefore expect to see some early integrations between Vega’s Sirius platform and Acumen.

On the Flyingboat side they have a very good AEOI reporting tool which is available as on-premise or as a bureau service for smaller clients. I can see this system going into the cloud and being offered as a SaaS solution, using Vega’s proven technologies in this area.

In summary, this does seem like a great opportunity for both businesses, and their clients. I am looking forward to seeing what emerges from the new company over the coming months.