“The customer base, management, governance, and operations requirements of FNZ are now quite different from First NZ Capital (the banking/broking business) and hence there were few synergies in having them part of the same group,” Durham said.

He said the establishment of a separate board for the wrap company will also enable decisions to be made “based on the relative merits of FNZ projects only rather than in relation to the more diverse business opportunities within the former First NZ Capital group”.

Durham also said the new company structure would eliminate the wrap’s exposure to any trading or underwriting risk taken on by First NZ Capital.

“For example, we wouldn't want the balance sheet of the UK wrap business to be constrained by a NZ investment banking underwriting position,” he said.

Finally, Durham said the systems required to manage a custodial wrap service are significantly different than those of a stockbroking firm.

“Separation enables us to have control over the end-to-end processes and systems, and thus deliver a better service to our customers in NZ,” he said.

As well as its Standard Life deal, which has seen Durham relocate to Edinburgh to manage FNZ, the business services New Zealand institutional clients such as Tower, ING and BNZ and a raft of financial planning groups including AMP Financial Services, Professional Investment Services NZ and a several smaller firms.