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Præmium was founded in October 2001 by its Group CEO: Arthur Naoumidis. At that time the Australian investment market was seeing an increasing trend towards widespread participation in direct equity investments. Drawing on his extensive international experience in developing, operating and marketing portfolio platforms and services, Arthur identified the need in the Australian market for a technologically advanced portfolio administration service to effectively administer equities. Præmium was formed to take advantage of that opportunity.
Præmium’s proprietary portfolio administration service, V-Wrap, now enjoys considerable success in the Australian market. The value of investments administered by V-Wrap has grown to in excess of GBP29bn (as of end of December 2010). V-Wrap administers more than 43,000 accounts for over 500 financial services organisations. Præmium's V-Wrap clients include some of Australia's largest financial service providers.
An innovative approach to product design combined with the strength of the underlying technology has also enabled the development of Præmium’s SMA platform, which it currently provides exclusively in Australia to BlackRock Investment Managers Limited (formerly known as Merrill Lynch Investment Managers). Præmium is now the market leader in the provision of SMA technology in Australia.*
In June 2007 Præmium further expanded its range of services when it launched p-Desktop in Australia, a powerful live market data service that is fully integrated with V-Wrap to provide the ultimate portfolio administration solution for professional advisers and stockbrokers. This new online desktop application is only available to Præmium's V-Wrap and SMA clients and to their client base.
After listing on the ASX in May 2006 Præmium opened its London office in June the same year. Præmium then spent two years working with recognised experts in collective investment law and regulation to create a brand new vehicle for the UK investment market; SMARTfund.
Combining Præmium’s advanced platform technology with a unique legal structure, Præmium’s SMARTfund Service combines the benefits of a Separately Managed Account with a Collective Investment Scheme providing a wide variety of applications and benefits for investors and advisers alike. Præmium received approval from the FSA for the first SMARTfund in March 2008, and has now launched the first range of SMARTfunds within its own SMARTfund Umbrella; the Managed Portfolios from OBSR. Præmium is now in the process of developing white labelled versions for Adviser firms to launch later this year.
In addition to offering the ability for Financial Advisers and other suitable firms to white-label and launch their own branded SMARTfund, Præmium also offers a range of other SMA Services including applications for the technology for discretionary advisers.
Præmium has also started work with Cofunds providing them with CGT Reporting (which utilises V-Wrap’s capabilities) across their platform which went live in February 2008.
*The Second Annual Investment Trends SMA Benchmarking and Technology Report