Iress expands collaboration on Connectivity Network

Iress announced on Wednesday that MLC Life Insurance and Praemium have signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to work on the Connectivity Network, which aims to connect platforms and insurance providers with advice software such as Xplan.

By streamlining and simplifying the advice execution process, Iress suggested that the number of clients that advisers are able to serve will increase.

Iress commercial director for investment infrastructure, Geoff Rogers, said: “We’re pleased to continue growing the Connectivity Network with the support of MLC Life Insurance and Praemium. Together, we’re collaborating on the design and creation of Xplan Affinity, the infrastructure that will enable direct connections between platforms, insurance providers and Xplan.

“Adding MLC Life Insurance and Praemium to the Connectivity Network will support the delivery of efficiencies to a broader group of advisers and ultimately help decrease the cost of providing financial advice. By joining forces, we’re combining our collective networks, knowledge, and resources to create a more efficient and resilient advice industry.”

The delivery of a new cloud-based infrastructure capability dubbed “Xplan Affinity”, which is set to go live by mid-2023, is said to be core to the new Connectivity Network.

According to Iress, Xplan Affinity will enable platform and insurance providers to integrate directly with Xplan and facilitate straight-through processing of client onboarding, trading, insurance applications, advice execution and client maintenance.

MLC Life Insurance’s chief individual insurance officer, Michael Rogers, said: “MLC Life Insurance is delighted to join the Connectivity Network and to play a leading role in collaborating on the future of advice execution. We know the importance of creating fast and efficient processes to ensure advisers can serve and, ultimately, protect more Australians, more easily.

“MLC Life Insurance has invested heavily in re-platforming our technology capabilities to ensure we are in a position to support and grow the advice community. We’re excited by the opportunities the Connectivity Network can bring in delivering superior experiences for our adviser partners and their clients, supported by technology.”

Praemium chief commercial officer, James Edmonds, said: “At Praemium, we have a strong focus on using technology to simplify complex and time-consuming processes so advisers can operate more efficiently and deliver an enhanced experience to their clients.

“We’re delighted to be collaborating on the Connectivity Network with Iress and other industry leaders, which we believe will solve a critical pain point for advisers and enable them to more efficiently manage the wealth of Australians.”

Praemium and MLC Life Insurance join Colonial First State (CFS) and MetLife Australia, which signed MOUs to collaborate on the Connectivity Network in November 2022.