David Ferguson

The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year. 

In November 2018 Nucleus unbundled its technology arrangements from OpenWealth, contracting directly with Bravura Solutions (UK) Ltd.

The acquisition is the next step in the company’s journey to have increased control over its processes, service offering and product development while continuing to licence its core Sonata software from Bravura.

Based in Glasgow, OpenWealth has provided business process outsourcing (BPO) services to the company since 2011, including account servicing and administration.

Nucleus’ board believes that the acquisition will allow the firm to further accelerate its product development and automation programme, provide scope to enhance the level and efficiency of its offline service, create new growth opportunities for its people, and accelerate the expansion of its operating margin as it grows AUA.

David Ferguson, founder and chief executive of Nucleus, commented: “Nucleus has continued to grow in recent years, and we expect the greater control afforded by the Acquisition to further strengthen our positioning as we pursue our goal of being the most tech-enabled wrap platform in the UK.

“I’m looking forward to welcoming all of our new colleagues into the business. The Nucleus / OpenWealth combination has worked well for the better part of a decade and bringing the two together will allow us to focus more than ever on developing our online product and offline service.

“We’ve always believed that the highest service levels are achieved when the online product is so intuitive that the customer hits the button themselves and on the occasions they are unable to do so, that the offline service is exceptional. We believe that this deal will kick-start our margin expansion and accelerate growth by moving us closer to having the best product offering in our market.”

He added: “Today marks the start of a new stage in our journey, a milestone towards us achieving a market-leading position for our customers. Improving the quality and flexibility of what we do will be central to that, and I’m excited by the opportunity this affords us in enhancing the overall user experience and helping us to realise our growth ambitions.”