Financial Risk Solutions appoints industry veteran in APAC expansion

Terry Kyle to lead Australian growth and product localisation for investment administration software InvestPro.

Melbourne, Australia – 29 September 2020  Financial Risk Solutions (FRS), provider of the award-winning investment administration software Invest|Pro™ to life assurance, wealth and asset management firms worldwide, is pleased to announce the appointment of wealth industry expert Terry Kyle as Country Manager for Australia. Based in Melbourne, Terry’s appointment is part of the firm’s ongoing expansion in the region where he will be responsible for growth and localising InvestPro for the Australian superannuation, Asian funds, wealth and managed accounts markets. He joins FRS with over 30 years of experience in leading transformation delivery for financial services firms including Mercer, VicSuper, TAL, Perpetual, NAB, ANZ, Macquarie, Credit Suisse and AXA Financial.

Rapid growth in Assets Under Management (AUM) around the world, regulatory focus on operational resilience, and remote working due to the Covid-19 pandemic are key drivers for administrators and investment management firms to invest in the digitisation of investment administration processes and operating model upgrades. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported an increase of 2.8 percent of managed funds under management to $103.6b in June 2020, and the total unconsolidated assets of superannuation funds grew by 3.8 per cent to almost $3 trillion ($2,914.9b) during the June quarter, despite challenging economic conditions. Robust controls are needed to efficiently administer such high volumes of activity while mitigating investment operations risk.

Since entering the APAC market in late 2017, InvestPro has been successful in attracting firms to reduce and remove unit pricing errors in funds and improve operational oversight and resilience. A validation framework identifies exceptions, swiftly categorises and recommends corrective action according to the severity and impact of the alert for improved oversight.

Terry Kyle, Country Manager Australia at FRS, commented:

“While Australia is unquestionably leading the world in defined contribution Superannuation, the current climate and regulatory influence is demanding investment managers review their operating models and invest in new technologies that will future-proof their processes and enable significant scale. InvestPro is, by far, one of the most advanced investment administration platforms in the world and I look forward to introducing more APAC superannuation clients to the technology to assist their growth plans and help them increase their operational resilience.”

Frank Carr, Chief Marketing Officer at FRS, commented:

“With over 30 years in the industry, few people understand the Australian wealth landscape better than Terry and his solid track record in delivery will ensure we continue to deliver the highest service levels to clients in the region as we scale. Having him join our team and help our expansion in the APAC region is another great win for FRS and we are pleased to welcome him on board.”

This latest announcement builds on a successful month for the firm, with FRS awarded GRC Product of the Year in the 2020 Asia Risk Awards for InvestPro Fund Pricing Oversight, a product that assists firms with governance, risk and compliance of fund pricing with their outsourced providers.

Terry will join as a panelist on the ‘Lockdown and error-proof unit pricing’ session at the International Business Review Unit Pricing 2020 Online Forum from 19-20 November 2020. Sponsored by FRS, the conference brings together the latest thinking from regulators, superannuation funds, custodians and consulting firms to provide insight and direction for the future of fund administration.