Financial research and investment management company Morningstar is to rename Praemium as the Morningstar Wealth Platform after its £35m acquisition of the formerly Australian-owned platform.

Praemium has sold its operations in the UK, Jersey, Hong Kong and Dubai to Morningstar. 

The deal adds more than 100 new staff to Morningstar who will move across from Praemium’s UK and international operations.

Praemium UK is used by nearly 500 IFA firms and includes Wealthcraft, a full-service, end-to-end adviser practice management support tool which includes digital factoring, engagement and risk profiling.  

Daniel Needham, president, wealth management solutions, Morningstar, said: “We are excited to welcome more than 100 new colleagues to Morningstar and expand our ability to offer advisers technology-enabled flexibility and choice. 

“The Wealth Platform and Wealthcraft are powerful tools that reduce friction and save time so advisers can serve more investors – and in more extensive ways than they do today.” 

Morningstar says the new Morningstar Wealth Platform adds to the data, research, portfolio analytics and investment management capabilities offered to advisers by Morningstar.  

Mark Sanderson, Praemium UK and international managing director, said: “We are excited to have found a home with a long-term vision and commitment to our best-in-class platform experience.”

“We are dedicated to a disruption-free customer experience with no plans to re-platform and the work to separate our technology has already been completed without any impact to our clients, which is a testament to that commitment.” 

The deal is worth £35m and will be paid in cash. 

The Praemium UK business has been up for sale for some time. Praemium is one of the smaller UK platform players in an increasingly crowded market and has struggled to achieve scale and growth. Its former Australian owner plans to focus more on the domestic market down under.

Praemium was founded in 2001 in Australia and launched in the UK in 2006 and Jersey in 2012. 

Morningstar provides independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. It also offers investment management through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with nearly £200bn in assets under advice and management. The company has operations in 29 countries.