Præmium was founded in October 2001 by Arthur Naoumidis. Utilising his extensive international experience in developing, operating and marketing portfolio services, Arthur identified the need in the Australian market for a technologically advanced portfolio administration service to effectively administer the increasing trend in financial markets towards widespread participation in direct equity investments. Præmium was formed to take advantage of that opportunity.
Following 10 months of development, Præmium launched its proprietary online Portfolio Administration Service ("PAS", now V-Wrap) and secured its first clients early in 2002. These initial clients were primarily Do-it-Yourself ("DIY") investors utilising PAS to administer their own equity portfolios. However, it quickly became apparent that a much more significant opportunity lay with Præmium's growing numbers of professional adviser clientele, who needed better tools to administer and report on a multitude of equity portfolios across their own client base. Accordingly, Præmium ceased marketing to direct investors and focused its product development on the needs of accounting, financial planning and stock broking firms.
V-Wrap is now enjoying considerable success. The value of investments administered by V-Wrap has grown from AUD100million to over AUD38billion (as of 31 December 2009). V-Wrap has over 42,000 committed portfolios and nearly 500 financial services organisations. Præmium's V-Wrap clients include some of Australia’s largest financial service providers.
An innovative approach to product design combined with the strength of the underlying technology has also enabled Præmium to develop its proprietary SMA technology. Currently, in Australia, our SMA technology is used by BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited. This service is known as the BlackRock Customised Portfolio Service and has been recognised as the Top SMA Product in the Investment Trends 2006 and 2007 SMA Benchmarking and Technology Report.
More recently, agreements were finalised for Præmium to provide Powerwrap with V-Wrap and SMA technology to support its full service investment administration platform. Structured as a managed investment scheme (MIS), the Powerwrap Investment Account (PIA) incorporates custodial holdings for managed funds, and non-custodial holdings of direct equities and cash within a single consolidated account. Powerwrap will also deploy Præmium's proprietary separately managed accounts (SMA) as a component of the PIA.
In June 2007 Præmium further expanded its range of services with the launch of p-Desktop, a powerful live market data service that is fully integrated with V-Wrap to provide the ultimate portfolio administration solution. The new online desktop application was made available exclusively to Præmium’s V-Wrap and SMA clients.
After listing on the ASX in May 2006 Præmium opened its London office in June the same year. Præmium then spent two years working with recognised experts in collective investment law and regulation to create a brand new vehicle for the UK investment market - SMARTfund.
Præmium received approval from the FSA for the first SMARTfund in March 2008, and has launched the first range of SMARTfunds within its own SMARTfund umbrella - the Managed Portfolios from OBSR.
Præmium has also developed white labelled versions for adviser firms, providing them with the ability to white-label and launch their own branded SMARTfund. Furthermore, Præmium offers a range of other SMA services including applications for the technology for discretionary advisers.