Development of new offshore bond wraps

In addition to creating a subsidiary in Singapore and launching its first product, we negotiated a new cost approach with the outsourced IT supplier.

Their challenges

Skandia had an ambitious timetable for launching a number of offshore bond wraps. A recent outsourcing of all IT added additional complexity to developing new products rapidly and within acceptable costs.

Our approach

We supplied a consultant who project managed a portfolio of projects to develop and launch offshore bond wraps in Europe and Asia. Using knowledge acquired on similar projects we were quickly able to prioritise the key deliverables to unlock progress and drive through the required changes.

By developing an excellent working relationship with the IT outsourcer’s lead manager we were able to agree a menu pricing approach to the IT system change required when innovating or cloning products.

Project outputs

• Product specifications and pricing
• High-level business requirements
• Detailed business requirements
• Target Operating Model
• Operational process changes (onboarding and transactions)
• IT system changes
• User acceptance testing (UAT)
• Staff relocation
• New facilities fit-out in Singapore
• Product contracts
• Sales and technical literature
• Change communications for staff
• Company launch campaign through advertising and PR

Outcome

Three offshore bond wraps were launched, one requiring a new sales office to be opened in Singapore. In addition the costs of developing these products was reduced 40% through negotiating a new pricing structure with the IT outsource supplier. Skandia adopted this structure for subsequent product developments thus providing on ongoing cost saving.