Jeff Hall

GBST, a leading global provider of wealth management and advice solutions technology, has completed the multimillion-dollar upgrade of its Composer platform across the APAC region – the final step in a multi-year global transformation program. This milestone delivers a single, modernised platform architecture across GBST’s core markets, positioning clients for faster innovation, stronger regulatory readiness, security, and enhanced member experiences.

The upgrade modernises GBST’s core technology stack to a cloud-native, API-rich, and highly scalable architecture, designed to meet evolving client needs and embed enterprise-grade security. As the APAC clients transition to the modern platform, GBST can deliver new capabilities simultaneously across markets, accelerating time-to-value and ensuring consistency in service delivery.

The upgraded platform also deepens integration with GBST’s SuperStream Gateway, delivering straight-through ATO message processing, automated contributions and rollovers, and real-time data synchronisation to ensure funds are ready for upcoming reforms such as Payday Super.

Alongside the upgrade, GBST continues to expand Composer’s capabilities through complementary services. Software as a Service (SaaS) gives clients automatic access to the latest platform enhancements without the need for manual upgrades, reducing infrastructure costs, improving scalability, and enabling faster responses to market and regulatory changes.

Furthermore, Testing as a Service (TaaS) automates quality assurance to accelerate delivery cycles, reduce operational risk, and significantly reduce client-side testing timelines.

In parallel, GBST has achieved the first step towards SOC 2 certification and is progressing with the next level. We are committed to the highest recognised standards for data protection, privacy, and operational resilience, giving our clients confidence their information is safeguarded

Jeff Hall, Head of APAC at GBST, said: “Passing this milestone brings the full power of our modernised Composer platform to APAC clients, without disruption to their day-to-day operations. It means they can launch new products, adapt to regulatory changes, and deliver exceptional member experiences faster than ever before. The platform’s open architecture also makes it easier to integrate with both existing and emerging systems, allowing clients to seamlessly connect into a broader ecosystem of services and solutions.”

Rob DeDominicis, CEO at GBST, added: “Completing this transformation in APAC unifies our clients globally on a single, future-focused platform. It strengthens GBST’s ability to innovate at pace, expand capabilities, and deliver secure, scalable solutions that help clients stay ahead in an increasingly competitive wealth management market.”

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Jeff Hall

GBST, a leading global provider of wealth management, tax, and advice solutions technology, highlighted that as the financial year ended, financial institutions like super funds and life insurance companies faced heightened challenges and opportunities in managing unit pricing.  

“Technology serves as the cornerstone in navigating the complexities of year-end unit pricing”, says Jeff Hall, Head of APAC for GBST. “Excel is still a widely used tool due to the lack of end-to-end solutions catering specifically to tax in unit pricing. This reliance on Excel introduces risks such as limited automation, scalability issues, and data governance challenges.” 

There is a solution currently available that addresses these challenges by automating tax calculations and streamlining data management. GBST’s Tax Intell solution integrates with existing systems and provides accurate, auditable tax calculations,” Hall explains.    

As organisations undergo consolidation, individual entities inherit unique unit pricing processes, compounding the workload, and introducing additional complexities. Tax considerations play a pivotal role in calculating net asset values and unit prices, including current tax liabilities and deferred tax assets or liabilities.  

“The trending transition towards daily unit pricing demands rapid and precise calculations, often leading to simplified tax assessments,” explains GBST’s tax expert, Edward Au. “Year-end brings additional scrutiny, requiring institutions to conduct thorough checks on unit pricing calculations, ensuring alignment with tax assets and liabilities.”  

While technology has transformed many facets of financial management, the unit pricing domain remains underserved. Unit pricing expertise requires a niche skill set blending tax knowledge, technical proficiency, and data management capabilities.  

“People are a critical factor alongside technology in tax and unit pricing, with professionals navigating complex roles and responsibilities amidst organisational consolidations.” Au adds that from his experience, regular team check-ins and clear communication channels can help to mitigate workload pressures during year-end. 

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Kirsty Worgan

GBST is pleased to announce the appointment of its new Chief Commercial Officer, Kirsty Worgan. Joining the executive team and reporting to global CEO Robert DeDominicis, Kirsty will contribute to delivering the organisation’s ambitious global growth strategy and lead the development and delivery of its wealth management commercial plans working closely with the CEO and Board.

Kirsty has worked in senior management and executive positions in financial services and fintech for three decades, including seven years at GBST previously as its Head of Business Development. Her former roles also include Director of Business Development EMEA at Bravura Solutions, where she was responsible for client acquisition in the UK and South Africa, and Chief Commercial Officer at Smart Pensions.

In her newly established role at GBST, Kirsty will manage commercial growth opportunities, mergers and acquisitions, and assist with sales and product expansion. She will support regionally based leaders to drive adoption of GBST’s market-leading and award-winning wealth management solutions, including back-office administration technology, Composer; tools and services for tax aware investing and intelligent reporting, TaxIntell and Tax Analyser; digital wealth platform, Catalyst; and a growing range of interactive financial tools and calculators.

Robert DeDominicis, CEO at GBST, comments: “Kirsty is well-known and highly regarded across the industry, and I am delighted to welcome her back to GBST. We are seeing increased interest globally in our wealth management solutions as providers seek to deploy a modern, cloud-based tech stack that delivers a superior client user journey and experience, while addressing increasing regulatory burdens and managing costs. Kirsty’s extensive experience will be invaluable in accelerating our organic and acquisitive expansion plans.”

Kirsty adds: “Having been part of the original team that helped establish GBST in the UK over a decade ago, I am excited to re-join the organisation. GBST has always been committed to continued technology innovation, but I have been particularly impressed by the significant investment and progress it has made in transforming its underlying product architecture over the last two years and by Anchorage’s ambition for the long-term future of the company.

“I’m looking forward to working with the GBST team globally to execute on its business plans and drive the continued commercial advancement and success of its operations.”

Kirsty commences her role this week.

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Robert DeDominicis

For the third consecutive year, GBST has been named in the top 100 most innovative companies across the wealth and asset management industry, cementing its position as a global leader.

The annual WealthTech100 list recognises the top technology companies that have had the most significant impact on the global asset management, wealth management and financial advice sectors, and which can be classified as world leaders in innovation.

Over the past year, GBST has once again continued to invest heavily in its technology advancement program, to transform underlying product architecture, development, and deployment practices. This has ensured it can continue to provide innovative solutions to solve industry challenges, increase efficiencies, improve automation, decrease operating costs, and provide more engaging client experiences to deliver better outcomes.

Robert DeDominicis, CEO at GBST, said: “While the past year has been challenging due to continued affects from the pandemic and a team that spent a significant amount of time working remotely, we have continued to operate successfully, winning new business, and supporting our long-term clients in keeping their vital back, middle and front-office financial systems running smoothly.

“At the same time, we have invested significantly in transforming the underlying technology for our Wealth Management administration platform, Composer, utilising cloud infrastructure to modernise the user experience, deliver additional functionality for our clients and their end customers and deliver a scalable solution for financial services providers to deliver growth now and in the future.

“Being recognised in the WealthTech100 list again is testimony to the quality of our market-leading solutions, the delivery of our services, and the incredible experience and dedication of our teams globally,” he said.

There are strong structural growth drivers in the global wealth management space which are set to significantly increase GBST’s addressable market. Growing competition and higher regulatory burdens are making technology and innovation increasingly central for the future of the industry, and with increasing interest in GBST’s wealth management solutions, and a growing pipeline of opportunities, this is evident.

DeDominicis said active accounts on GBST’s wealth management platform, Composer, experienced double-digit growth in 2021 to reach over 5.5 million globally and GBST’s technology is trusted to underpin the wealth administration of leading investment platforms, pension schemes, fund managers and superannuation funds across Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand.

“Our acquisition by Anchorage Capital Partners in December 2021 opens a new and exciting chapter for GBST, building on the strong foundations of our almost four decades in the wealth management sector. The support from Anchorage will allow us to achieve our ambitious expansion plans and continue to innovate and further develop new cloud-based solutions for existing and prospective clients,” said DeDominicis.

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GBST Wealth Management provides technology solutions to platforms, fund managers and boutique service providers. Based in GBST’s Sydney office, Mr Frolich will be responsible for driving sales and new business across the Australian, New Zealand and Asian wealth markets with particular focus on GBST’s Composer platform.

Composer offers a single fully integrated system to administer managed funds, structured products and retirement products. It currently administers hundreds of products which represents hundreds of billions of dollars under administration.

Mr Frolich joins GBST from DST International (DSTi) where he was director in charge of sales and marketing for the past 10 years and successfully established the firm’s retail and wrap offering from the ground up. With 25 years’ experience in financial services, Mr Frolich has also held senior positions at Macquarie Bank.

“Nick’s appointment underpins our strategy to drive growth and market share by leveraging the multimillion dollar investment we’ve made in developing our Composer technology.

“As regulatory changes and challenging investment markets add to cost pressures in the wealth management industry, flexible technology solutions will be essential for the future growth of wealth managers. GBST’s Composer platform is ideally placed to help the industry in the current climate,” said Robert DeDominicis, head of GBST’s global wealth management division.

GBST’s market-leading technology has remained compliant with regulatory changes in the Australian financial services industry since 2000.

“I believe GBST is in a strong position having combined broking and wealth management solutions and expertise. The convergence of these markets is gaining momentum driven by legislative changes such as FoFA and investor demand for direct equities exposure. There is plenty of opportunity out there to be captured and I’m excited to be joining the business at this critical time for the industry,” said Mr Frolich.

In a recent market update, GBST reported a number of new clients and licenses in the pipeline for its wealth management business across Asia and Australia.

“We are committed to servicing the wealth management industry through continued development of our software platforms and I am confident Nick’s knowledge and solutions-based approach will keep this strong momentum going,” concluded Mr DeDominicis.

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