GBST earns its fifth year in the Global WealthTech 100 list: 2023 was a huge year for growth and innovation, says CEO
GBST, a leading global provider of wealth management and advice solutions technology, has been named as one of the world’s 100 most innovative companies for the fifth consecutive year in the Global WealthTech 100 list.
“2023 was a huge year for GBST’s growth and innovation,” Robert DeDominicis (pictured), Global CEO of GBST said. “We went from being a global WealthTech company to a leading player in the AdviceTech space as well. We made two acquisitions to further our footprint: a digital and hybrid offering from Advice Intelligence and the Salesforce-based advisor practice management offering, WealthConnect. With the global market undergoing significant regulatory changes and many advice professionals operating off legacy technology, the timing of both acquisitions was perfect for market disruption.
“Our goal is to provide cutting-edge AdviceTech that helps eliminate the advice gap being experienced globally by significantly reducing the cost of advice. In doing so, we hope to make quality advice more accessible to a broader range of people. Our solutions are designed to streamline advice management and empower advice professionals to efficiently manage client relationships, facilitate both digital and face-to-face advice engagements, and manage administrative tasks easily.”
Last year, GBST experienced further organic growth, onboarding more than 20 clients to its Equate product. Equate provides online tools and calculators to credit unions, banks, lending institutions and other financial services organisations. GBST also renewed a five-year contract with a leading Australian Tier 1 financial services organisation for its wealth management administration platform, Composer, and secured a large pension provider in the UK, also for Composer. Additional wins included two large custodian companies for GBST’s Australian tax products.
GBST also expanded its footprint by launching in the Middle East, where changes in workplace pensions and savings legislation have resulted in providers expecting a large growth in funds under management. Consequently, it has meant that wealth management organisations in the region are now looking at technology solutions to assist with this compliance.
Continual improvement is key to GBST’s success, and it continues to invest in and enhance its product functionality, focusing on its Software as a Service (SaaS) offering. This includes defining SaaS tiers to help clients choose a suitable service at an appropriate cost, while ensuring standardised internal processes for delivery.
“With an increasing need from industry stakeholders for greater cybersecurity in wealth management, we also embarked on a cybersecurity resilience program to ensure our governance measures are evolved and aligned to the highest level of globally recognised standards,” commented Isabel Sanchez, GBST’s Chief Technology Operations Officer.
GBST completed 2023 with a celebration of its success acknowledging its establishment in 1983, and 40 years of inspiring wealth innovation.
2024 is ramping up just as quickly. GBST is focusing on enhancing Composer’s retirement solution to offer further flexibility for current pension functionality that supports client product needs, and the expansion of annuities, bonds, and multi-currency for new territories.
With GBST’s growing client base, service is key. “We’re committed to working and building trust with our clients. Ensuring even greater success for them as they benefit from further use of API’s, increased automation, operational efficiency, and a shift to our SaaS delivery model – will allow them to focus on their business,” said David Simpson, GBST’s Head of EMEA.
