Xplan has been at the heart of Mattioli Woods’ operations for over four years, forming the foundation of its client delivery, system integration and acquisition strategy.
As the business has grown in scale and complexity, the focus has shifted from implementation to optimisation: how Xplan can support the business’s drive for operational efficiency and deliver change sooner without overstretching internal teams.
By working with Iress Consulting, Mattioli Woods has accelerated that journey, reaching the right solutions faster, simplifying processes and improving the performance of Xplan and surrounding systems.
Natalie LaPare, Head of Product at Mattioli Woods, reflects on the experience.
Iress’ expertise provided us with the solution more quickly and efficiently.
Head of Product, Mattioli Woods
A strong foundation, with growing demands
Natalie describes Xplan as “the engine of the business”, sitting at the centre of Mattioli Woods’ wealth management operations and integrating multiple systems, including its in-house pensions administration platform, MWeb.
Following the acquisition of Kingswood, the business now operates two Xplan sites - adding both capability and complexity.
For Natalie, the challenge is ensuring “all the cogs are turning” to support both operational performance and client service:
“Our main objective is operational efficiency - making sure Xplan and MWeb do exactly what they need to do and communicate effectively so we’re not re-keying data or duplicating effort.”
The systems are supported by a small internal team, who also juggle a constant flow of competing demands from across the business:
“We have a very small team working between the systems. Marketing, Compliance, Finance and client teams all have things they want or need Xplan to do, and requests are flying in. Our job is to decide what we can do in-house, and what we need the experts for.”
Extending capability without expanding the team
To extend its internal capability without increasing headcount, Mattioli Woods relies on Iress Consulting.
As well as providing technical expertise when needed, Iress Consulting helps shape solutions and accelerate progress. Natalie explains:
“There are a whole heap of things we wouldn’t have been able to do by ourselves. Others would have taken us years.”
One of the benefits of using Iress Consulting for Mattioli Woods is having access to a team with deep platform knowledge who already understand the business and its systems. Natalie continues:
“Having the Iress team, who have worked with us for so long and have such a deep understanding of the services that we provide, gives us a start on the play.”
From manual processes to efficient, automated outcomes
A clear example of Iress Consulting’s impact is the design of Mattioli Woods’ Annual Valuation Summary (AVS). The team helped turn their advisers’ requirements into an output that can be produced seamlessly, pulling on various sources of information in the client record and portfolios. Previously, the team would knit together documents more manually, and the process was prone to inefficiency. Now they can automate the bulk production of their AVSs. Natalie describes the impact:
“The team helped us design the output and get everything into Xplan so that it could be extracted properly and efficiently. It’s saved us a great amount of time and looks great.”
The result is a more scalable, accurate and significantly more efficient process with reduced manual intervention.
The Iress team ask the questions you're not thinking of.
Head of Product, Mattioli Woods
Challenging complexity and simplifying processes
A key strength of Iress Consulting is the team’s ability to challenge established ways of working and bring a fresh perspective.
Through workshops and collaborative design sessions, Iress’ consultants have helped Mattioli Woods simplify processes and rethink long-standing assumptions. Natalie says:
“Iress were really listening to how we work as a business. They showed us ‘this is how you’re working today’ and ‘this is what it might look like afterwards’. They ask the questions you’re not thinking of. It makes us step back and think, ‘Why are we doing that in the first place? Is there a reason that we’re doing things in such a complex way? It’s helped bring perspective back and simplify our processes."
Iress understands what we need as a business, and that’s exactly what you want from a technology provider.
Head of Product, Mattioli Woods
A true extension of the team
The relationship has become a close working partnership, with Iress Consultants embedded in the way Mattioli Woods delivers change. Natalie explains:
“Iress know our business inside out, so it’s easy to get answers and solutions from the people that we’ve worked closely with. We’ve created a partnership where we’re listening to each other. Iress understand what we need as a business, and that’s exactly what you want from a technology provider.”
This familiarity enables faster decision-making, smoother delivery and solutions that are closely aligned to business needs.
Honest expertise that drives better outcomes
For Mattioli Woods, transparency is a defining strength of the partnership:
“We definitely value their honesty. They’re very clear about what the system can and can’t do. They’ll say this is the way it’s supposed to work, and this is what other UK financial firms do.”
Rather than over-promising, Iress Consulting provides clear, practical guidance grounded in industry best practice, ensuring solutions are both effective and sustainable.
Delivering faster, with confidence
Ultimately, the value of Iress Consulting lies in accelerating progress and enabling businesses like Mattioli Woods to deliver against their priorities more quickly than would otherwise be possible. Natalie says:
“We don’t have deep Xplan expertise in-house, so we prefer to go to the vendor to make sure we’re using it in the right and optimal way. Iress’ expertise has provided us with the solution quicker and more efficiently.”
Without this support, achieving the same outcomes would have required significantly more time, resources and internal capability.
We have an ambitious strategy over the next four or five years, and we won’t be able to deliver it without Iress’ help.
Head of Product, Mattioli Woods
A platform for ongoing transformation
With a strong foundation in place, Mattioli Woods continues to build on Xplan as its central operating platform for future growth and acquisitions.
The focus now is on continuous improvement - enhancing data quality, strengthening management insight, and delivering a more seamless digital client experience. Natalie concludes:
“Eventually, we will merge the two Xplan sites and become one Xplan team, and it will continue being the engine we need it to be. We have an ambitious strategy over the next four or five years, and we won’t be able to deliver it without Iress’ help.”
Iress Consulting is available exclusively to Iress clients. To learn more, please talk to your Iress Relationship Manager.
