Fidelity International has reached an agreement with Bravura Solutions to acquire a licence to develop and continue to operate its Sonata platform for £29m.

The agreement will enable Fidelity to build on Bravura’s investment in Sonata, which underpins Fidelity’s UK adviser solutions and personal investing platforms.

The licence will allow Fidelity to use, modify, and further develop Sonata to meet the “evolving needs” of its advisers and retail investors.

Fidelity chose Bravura’s wealth and investment administration system in 2013 as part of a joint investment programme, which sought to enhance the platform for its advisers and their clients.

Sonata is a digital wealth and pensions management platform used in the UK financial services sector to manage a variety of financial products, ensure regulatory compliance, and improve operational efficiency.

As part of the new agreement, a ‘small number’ of Bravura’s team who are already supporting Fidelity in India and the UK will transfer to Fidelity of the course of the next 12 months, with the aim of ensuring ongoing business continuity.

Alongside this, Bravura will continue to provide technical and operational expertise to Fidelity to help maintain and develop Sonata to meet future needs.

Fidelity stated that its joint development programme with Bravura has delivered “enhanced capability” and an extended range of assets.

This has supported its transition from funds supermarket to wrap platform, including new features such as cash management options and discretionary fund management services.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Bravura will retain all intellectual property rights to the software made available to Fidelity.

Commenting on the announcement, Fidelity International head of global platform solutions, Stuart Warner, said: “We’re wholly committed to the continuous development of our UK platforms and will continue to enhance the products and services we offer to meet the changing needs of our advisers and clients.

“Sonata is integral to our platform business. This new agreement will allow us to bring Sonata development in-house and align further technology investment with our strategic objectives, while delivering new solutions.

“We selected Sonata in 2013 and continue to enjoy a productive and collaborative relationship with Bravura, which has allowed us to improve our adviser and client experience and support the advice process. We look forward to continuing to work in close partnership as our relationship with Bravura evolves.”

Bravura group CEO and MD, Andrew Russell, added: “This milestone agreement allows Fidelity to continue to leverage best-in-class technologies, while allowing us to streamline and simplify our enterprise Sonata software platform for the betterment of our other existing and new enterprise wealth clients. Fidelity remains a key client of ours and one we are excited to work closely with in the future.”

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