Amid announcements of increased profits, entrenched presence in its fields of operation and the establishment of IQ Australia, the IQ Business Group has also revealed it is acquiring Metropolis financial services portal Fintrac.
The acquisition was made by the group`s process and technology operation focused on the financial services industry, Financial IQ. This business unit also covers insurance, asset management, banking and employee benefit administration.
Fintrac provides information to 15 000 independent financial advisors in SA. As part of the agreement, the Fintrac team will join Financial IQ`s e-commerce team and will focus on executing IQ`s financial services strategy.
Les Horne, CEO of Financial IQ, says the acquisition of Fintrac adds significant impetus to the e-commerce strategies and initiatives that are currently in progress within Financial IQ.
The financial services portal will initially provide information to independent financial services advisors enabling them to advise their clients on products, services and trends. The portal will then be expanded to allow for online straight through processing of various retail financial services transactions between clients, intermediaries and providers
Financial results
The group`s turnover for its second financial year climbed to R170 million, from R18 million the previous year. Profit from operations increased to R15 million from R3 million after its first year. The company`s staff complement grew to 800 employees.
Johan Roets, CEO of the IQ Business Group, attributes his company`s growth to its ability to attract and retain talented individuals, to partner with companies in its chosen vertical markets around specific technology enterprises, as well as its ability to "think big, start small, and scale fast".
"We have been extremely fortunate in our choice of partners, namely Fedsure, Fedsure Health, Reunert, Nedcor and NSP Buck in Australia."
Down under
IQ established its first offshore operations in Australia in March and has 80 employees based in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Brisbane. Springboard to its presence down under was the establishment of a joint venture with NSP Buck, one of the largest employee benefit administrators in Australia, which is estimated to be the fifth largest financial services market in the world.
As a result of its relationship with NSP Buck, IQ Australia will supply strategic planning, design, implementation and management of employee benefit administration processes and systems for the Australian market.
IQ Australia is finalising its second outsourcing contract in Australia, which is expected to virtually double IQ Australia`s staff complement and provide an additional AUS $10 million in annual turnover.
"IQ will seek opportunities via its client base in SA and Australia to develop and apply state-of-the-art asset management and employee benefits technologies. This process thinking and applied technologies will then be made available to potential clients in the UK and the US," Roets says.
IQ Australia is looking at several potential acquisitions in the financial services industry.
Other initiatives
Among other key initiatives this year was the investment of 25.1% by Nedcor in The IQ Business Group in August and the establishment of a workspace management joint venture with Reunert.
IQ Health has also launched its Health-e range of e-commerce products for the healthcare industry.
Future strategies
The group intends to continue focusing on the growth of its current operations in SA and Australia.
In addition, it plans to shore up the management capacity of its UK operations and seek to grow its financial services operations in that country`s markets.
IQ has also been formulating its entrance strategy for the healthcare and financial services markets in the US. The strategies will result in the likely establishment operations in Atlanta and Boston in the near future.
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