UK – Pensions software and service provider Marlborough Sterling is to seek a flotation this spring on the London Stock Exchange in a move it hopes will fund expansion of its DC administration systems in the UK and Europe.

David Edwards, director of corporate marketing at Marlborough Sterling, says the flotation would enable the company to give a broader product offering in the UK through its Lamda DC administration system:
“ We want to make it a multi-channel based system to allow customers and advisers access across the internet and to incorporate service centre operations such as call centre and back office provision.
“ Going forward we want to ensure that this will not just be for illustration, it will also include fund switching, surrender valuations etc. - enabling people to serve themselves by the internet.
“ This is clearly one area of investment that we would be using the funding for.”

In terms of European expansion, Edwards says the larger entities such as Spain, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands are high on the target list.
“We think we have leadership within the product for the European market in areas such as sophistication, commission payments and the ability to switch funds, as well as coping with the regulatory side of things and inland-revenue requirements for pension funds.
“We need to invest in product development though and to ensure we have the right distribution outlets across Europe.
“ Clearly we are interested in partnership opportunities, but we really want to have a presence in leading European territories.”

Edwards says the flotation will allow the group to fund its expansion plans within a much shorter timescale.
“ Correspondingly for any pensions providers in those European market places I think that being a listed company on the LSE would give them a reassurance that they might not have had and so we will be able to go for much bigger deals,” he adds.