By Christopher Robbin/FA-Mag.com
Chicago-based Envestnet | Tamarac announced on Thursday that it has agreed to acquire Schwab’s PortfolioCenter.
PortfolioCenter is a portfolio management and reporting solution for RIAs owned by Schwab Performance Technologies that is already used by some advisors in concert with Envestnet’s Tamarac portfolio management and rebalancing software.
Andina Anderson, executive managing director of Envestnet | Tamarac, said that the acquisition of PortfolioCenter would allow her company to augment the services it provides to RIAs.
“Firms using PortfolioCenter should anticipate the same level of support, and will now have direct access to Tamarac’s best-in-class support, consulting and service teams that not only have a deep understanding of PortfolioCenter but the Tamarac platform as well,” said Anderson in released comments. “RIAs transitioning from Schwab Performance Technologies will benefit, as all our clients do, from being able to help guide the future enhancements of Tamarac’s open, modular and ever-evolving technology platform for RIAs.”
Joel Bruckenstein, a leading technology consultant to the RIA business, pinpointed several reasons motivating Schwab to unload the PortfolioCenter platform. "One is that they don't want to maintain and update it," he said.
A lot of PortfolioCenter clients are not actually Schwab clients. Schwab wants to concentrate their resources and ecnourage advisors affiliated with Schwab to upgrade, Bruckenstein added.
"Finally, they seem to have changed their attitudes towards third-party providers," he continued. "The new team realizes they can't do everyting well, so it makes sense to partner and devote resources where they can have the most impact."
Additional details of the deal were not announced.