Wealth management transformation case study
A standalone wealth business, live.
A leading Australian wealth manager separated from its former parent, one of the country's largest banks, in a $430M transformation under private equity ownership, and modernised its platforms at the same time. Transformativ provided executive leadership for strategy and transformation. Independence was achieved on schedule: all 36 transitional service agreements (TSAs) were exited and an $18B account migration completed, with no major customer disruption. The business is forecast to deliver $9 billion to $10 billion in net inflow growth and a $318M EBITDA uplift.
EBITDA uplift projected
net inflow growth forecast
transitional service agreements exited
account migration
in upgrades to the flagship investment platform
major customer disruptions through separation
Independence achieved on schedule. Net inflow growth and EBITDA uplift are forecasts.
A wealth manager separating from a major bank
A leading Australian wealth management business had to separate from its former parent, one of the country's largest banks, after a change of ownership. Decades of shared services had to be disentangled, independent enterprise capabilities stood up, and adviser and investor platforms modernised, all at speed and under regulatory oversight, while the business kept growing.
How do you separate from a bank and modernise at the same time?
The business had to exit its former parent and become a stronger, standalone competitor at the same time, without disrupting customers or advisers.
- Disentanglement: 36 transitional service agreements to exit, and independent enterprise capabilities to stand up across technology, data, security and the vendor ecosystem.
- Continuity: an $18B account migration that, alongside the TSA exits, carried significant continuity risk for customers and advisers.
- Regulatory oversight: independence to be achieved on schedule, with regulator-ready controls throughout.
- Modernisation: adviser and investor platforms to relaunch and expand, so the business could compete, and grow inflows, as a standalone.
What Transformativ did
Reset the strategy and the target state
As executive director for strategy and transformation, Transformativ reset the strategy and defined the target operating model across enterprise applications, security, data and the vendor ecosystem. Waves were sequenced to minimise customer impact and speed up value, and every workstream was linked to growth and cost targets.
Stood up an enterprise PMO
An enterprise program office integrated plans across technology, product, data, people and risk, with weekly executive forums, fast issue triage, transparent benefits tracking and clear visibility for the board.
Led the flagship deliveries
The flagship investment platform was relaunched with $32M in upgrades to functionality, performance and the adviser experience, and a new platform was launched: the first major wealth platform innovation in a decade, designed to attract inflows. Advisers were supported with training, communication and go-live hypercare.
Exited every TSA and migrated $18B in accounts
All 36 TSAs were exited and the $18B account migration completed through controlled cutovers, with dress rehearsals, go or no-go criteria and regulator-ready audit trails. Priority workloads moved to the cloud, and data governance, lineage and analytics were uplifted.
Tracked the benefits
Dashboards tracked inflows, platform use, cost to serve and EBITDA against the board's targets throughout.
A standalone wealth business, live
Independence was achieved on schedule, with no major customer disruption, and the separation became a springboard for growth. The business is forecast to deliver $9 billion to $10 billion in net inflow growth and a $318M EBITDA uplift, driven by its platform and data investments.
- Independence: achieved on schedule, with all 36 TSAs exited and an $18B account migration completed, with no major customer disruption.
- Growth: $9 billion to $10 billion net inflow growth forecast.
- Earnings: $318M EBITDA uplift projected.
- Platforms: a relaunched flagship investment platform and a new platform, both built to attract inflows.
- Foundations: a leaner cost base, modern platforms and data, and the agility to keep innovating.
Lessons for bank and wealth separations
Four lessons from this separation apply to any carve-out.
- 01
Treat separation as a chance to reset.
The business used the separation to modernise, instead of simply replicating what it had before.
- 02
Governance is the hinge.
An enterprise PMO kept a $430M portfolio from fragmenting.
- 03
Keep innovating during separation.
Launching new platforms mid-separation showed independence and renewal can run together.
- 04
Rehearse every cutover.
Dress rehearsals and go or no-go criteria carried 36 TSA exits and an $18B account migration through without major customer disruption.
Common questions about wealth management separations
A transitional service agreement (TSA) is a contract under which the former parent keeps providing services, such as technology, operations or finance, to the separated business for a set period. Exiting every TSA on time, without disrupting customers, is one of the main tests of a separation. In this program, all 36 were exited.
It depends on how many shared services must be replaced and how much the business modernises at the same time. With careful planning before Day 1, a separation or integration can be completed successfully within months. This multi-year program also modernised the business's platforms while it separated.
Keep customer-facing initiatives moving alongside the structural work, sequence cutovers and migrations to minimise customer impact, rehearse every cutover with clear go or no-go criteria, and track inflows and EBITDA against board targets throughout.
Services involved
Know where your program stands before the next dollar goes in.
Five minutes. A scored baseline against twenty years of programs.
Net inflow growth and EBITDA uplift are forecasts. Other figures are stated as at the time of delivery.