National Mutual may have put its Jigsaw administration system back in the box, but Colonial is forging ahead with its Navigator system.
Colonial general manager David May says Navigator is 90 per cent complete and it will, hopefully, be launched in the next couple of months.
Earlier Nat Mut pulled the plug on Jigsaw saying there was insufficient funds flow to support the system.
National Mutual general manager Ross McEwan says an administration system needs to have about $200 million under management in its first 18 months of operation and probably needs $500 million in three to five years to make it sustainable.
He put Jigsaw back in the box as there were insufficient funds flow in the industry to reach those sorts of numbers.
Colonial, though it taking a different approach to the issue.
"To me it's a strategic positioning thing for the Colonial group," May says. "We want to move away from being just in insurance and being our own investment managers."
He says the group can't rely on selling just its own investment products, but has to offer an administration system to customers.
To be a broad financial services company in New Zealand Colonial needs to "have one of the best master funds," he says.
"I'm not looking to make a mint in the first 18 months," he says.
May promises Navigator will have one or two special features and it will have a reasonably wide selection of funds.
Colonial subsidiary Jacques Martin New Zealand will handle the administrative side of the Navigator system and Jardine Morgan has helped in the fund manager selection process.
National Mutual may have put its Jigsaw administration system back in the box, but Colonial is forging ahead with its Navigator system.