AXA Elevate deal: Platform market will split into 'buyers and sellers'

Is Standard Life/Axa deal a watershed moment?

Standard Life's acquisition of AXA Elevate will be the "first of many" deals, and will see platforms position themselves as "buyers or sellers" in a newly-consolidating market, according to Standard Life's David Tiller.

There has been speculation around consolidation of the platforms market for years, but different underlying technologies have acted as a barrier. However, the increasing reach of two major technologies, Sonata Bravura and FNZ (Standard Life and AXA are both on FNZ), has made consolidation more viable. The deal, which is the second this week following Aegon's acquisition of BlackRock's defined contribution platform, is believed by analyst Macquarie Capital to have cost Standard Life £50m with a further amount (less than £50m) required to merge the IT systems. The deal will take four...