The transfer of the MLC MasterKey and Plum registers, along with their associated applications, from NAB to Insignia Financial is one of the largest wealth management spin-offs in Australia’s financial services history, the firm said in a statement on Tuesday.

As part of the separation, the company noted that it had successfully migrated over 700,000 MasterKey and Plum accounts, 55 systems and applications, and more than 100 terabytes of data, allowing the company to fully transition from NAB’s systems and technology.

In addition, employees now work entirely within the Insignia Financial environment, serving clients, employers and consultants independently.

"The separation of MLC from NAB was the most important initiative we had to undertake as an organization in FY25 and I am pleased to announce this important separation milestone," said Insignia CEO Scott Hartley.

“Following the migration of MLC Wrap, MLC Navigator and related offerings to the MLC Expand platform in April, this separation further demonstrates our ability to deliver complex, large-scale transformation projects. It also marks the second successful execution of a major pensions business exit from a bank, the first being the spin-off of Insignia Financial's pensions and investment business from ANZ in 2022,” he added.

Hartley acknowledged that while work remains to be completed before Insignia fully exits the Transitional Services Agreement (TSA) in May 2025, reaching this milestone positions the company to streamline its Master Trust capabilities and shift its focus in FY2025-26 towards accelerated, sustainable growth, backed by a firm commitment to its customers.

"This separation will simplify and streamline processes and provide significant cost savings as TSA exits." These savings are included in the FY25 net cost reduction of $60-65 million and the net BAU operating cost reduction target of ~$200 million in FY26-30 as announced at our recent Investor Day,” he said.

As part of Insignia Financial's transition, the firm noted that it also moved its corporate and MLC general ledger to Workday, upgraded its infrastructure and applications, improved system performance, and increased security and monitoring to make its environment more safe for members.

At the same time, Insignia Financial introduced operational improvements for technology teams to improve system and infrastructure management and migrated some applications, including MLC's core registration system, to the cloud.