Technology: Misys has sold Sesame's 60% stake in Assureweb to its existing shareholders, leaving the portal entirely owned by a consortium of five product providers.
Misys has sold Sesame's 60% stake in Assureweb to its existing shareholders, leaving the portal entirely owned by a consortium of five product providers.
The deal, which has left AEGON UK, Clerical Medical, Friends Provident, Norwich Union and Scottish Equitable as the owners of the business, was struck in a bid to create an online portal wholly owned by the financial services industry.
According to outgoing chairman of Assureweb, Charles Bryant, it became apparent that in order to enable the portal to "really progress," the ownership structure needed to change.
"For Assureweb to achieve effective industry penetration, the onus should be on the product providers to decide how they want it to work most effectively for intermediaries - a process that, as the largest support provider to financial advisers, we will naturally support," he said.
But while Sesame has sold its share in the business, Bryant said that it remains committed to the proposition.
Confirming this stance, Assureweb's managing director, Nigel Hopwood, said the sale would have no immediate impact on the portal.
"From a user perspective there will be very little visible difference in the short-term, but the change will accelerate the development of Assureweb's product coverage.
"We are excited about where we could take this business in the next three to five years, particularly around providing bespoke panels in a depolarised world in addition to our core whole of market offering," Hopwood added.
