SEI, the US firm which provides outsourcing to wealth managers, has been selected by UK Wealth Management to provide its Global Wealth Services, as part of a transformation of UKWM’s business model.  

One of the main facets of SEI’s Global Wealth Services offering is Global Wealth Platform, which will allow UKWM to manage advisory and discretionary business on a single platform and expand the range of wealth management services available to its clients. Also as part of the partnership between the two firms, UKWM will capitalize on SEI’s experience in project and relationship management to aid the migration of clients from multiple platforms onto a single infrastructure (the GWP).

The move by UKWM comes as firms rethink their approach due to fast-paced changes in the wealth management industry, said Joseph Ujobai, executive vice president at SEI’s Private Banks segment.

“UKWM recognised this shift in the landscape as an opportunity to promote a new wealth management model and chose to form a strategic partnership which will enable the firm to focus on client-servicing and continued conversion to a discretionary, fee-based model,” he said.

UKWM, which has around £1.3 billion (around $1.9 billion) in client assets under advice and management, provides independent financial advice and investment management services. Operating from seven offices across the UK, it employs around 120 staff and is the parent firm of other independent advisory businesses including Yorkshire Investment Group, Plan Invest Group and Rocheberie Consulting.