Income Asset Management Group (IAM) launched a fixed income managed discretionary account (MDA) on Chelmer’s Myriad platform in seven months, from initial discussions in May 2025 to a live client portfolio in December 2025. No development work was required: Myriad already supported the models, model compliance, automated rebalancing and fixed income asset classifications the product needed.
At a glance
- Client: Income Asset Management Group (IAM), an ASX-listed Australian fixed income specialist
- Product: the Income MDA, combining direct ownership of investment-grade bonds and syndicated term loans, with no pooling of funds, for wholesale investors at a minimum of $1 million
- Technology: Myriad by Chelmer
- Timeline: seven months, May 2025 to December 2025, from concept to live portfolio
- New development required: none
- Results: eleven portfolios onboarded since go-live, and a shift to recurring management and custody fee revenue
The opportunity: a gap in Australia’s fixed income market
Australia’s fixed income market is shifting. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA’s) phase-out of the $43 billion bank hybrid market has left a gap that income-focused investors are actively looking to fill. Wholesale investors (family offices, sophisticated investors, high-net-worth (HNW) advisory groups) are asking more of their fixed income allocations: direct asset ownership, institutional-grade access to syndicated loans, and transparency over holdings and fees.
Income Asset Management Group (IAM) saw this clearly, and moved. As an ASX-listed fixed income specialist with over $3 billion in assets under administration and a track record across bonds, syndicated loans and asset-backed securities (ABS), IAM had the market expertise, the institutional relationships, and the product credibility to build a genuine managed discretionary account (MDA) offering. What they brought to market is distinctive: a fixed income MDA combining direct ownership of investment-grade bonds and syndicated term loans, with no pooling of funds, available to wholesale investors at a minimum of $1 million. There is not much else like it in Australia.
The missing piece was technology that could keep up.
Why an MDA, and why now?
The decision to launch the Income MDA wasn’t simply a product extension. It was a deliberate shift in how IAM delivers value to wholesale clients and how it generates revenue.
Beyond the new client segment, IAM already had the investment expertise in place. An experienced portfolio manager was part of the team, and the Investment Committee included senior industry figures already embedded in IAM’s board. The MDA was a natural extension of IAM’s direct asset ownership model; portfolio management added on top of what they were already doing.
There was also a client capability question. A significant portion of the fixed income market does not want a deal-by-deal interaction with a broker. These investors want to allocate capital, set a mandate, and have a trusted manager take care of the rest. IAM identified this as an underserved opportunity, clients they couldn’t attract through their existing model.
Previously, IAM’s model was built around transactional income: broker spreads on bond and loan sales. An MDA changes that structure. Revenue becomes recurring, tied to coupon payments and an ongoing management fee rather than individual transactions. For IAM, this was a more sustainable model and a better fit for the long-term client relationships they were building.
When the concept started to mature, the conversation with Chelmer reignited naturally. IAM and Chelmer had been working together since 2024, and when the MDA product started to take shape, Chelmer was the natural call. As it turned out, the Myriad platform was ready for it too.
Why IAM chose Myriad for its fixed income MDA
IAM’s initial Myriad implementation, completed in 2024, had replaced their legacy systems with a single platform covering the full trade lifecycle: order creation, market execution, client booking and settlement, contract notes, and client reporting. IAM had moved off Bloomberg TOMS entirely. The question was whether Myriad could handle the specific demands of a fixed income MDA. The answer was that it already could.
Chelmer had built core MDA functionality into Myriad years earlier: models, model compliance, automated rebalancing and order generation. The platform was already multi-currency and multi-asset class, designed from the ground up to support multiple concurrent business models. IAM could run advisory and MDA services on the same platform, with both operating seamlessly within a single, unified environment.
Andy Robertson, CTO at Chelmer, is direct about this: “Nothing needed to change. We had already thought about fixed income MDA requirements and addressed them well before we started working with IAM.”
Myriad’s Model of Models approach
For IAM, the capability that stood out most clearly during the workshops was Myriad’s Model of Models approach – what Andy Robertson describes as a building brick model. Rather than a single fixed portfolio template, IAM could build allocations from modular components, with individual models for different asset types sitting beneath an overarching portfolio model. Nick May, CTO at IAM, recalls this as the moment that crystallised Chelmer’s fit for what IAM was trying to build. The approach gave IAM the flexibility to adjust allocations between syndicated loans, ABS and investment-grade bonds as market conditions change, while maintaining mandate compliance across every client portfolio.
Why fixed income MDAs need specialist technology
For any firm evaluating MDA technology for a fixed income context, this matters more than it might appear. Most MDA platforms are designed around equities. The asset classification requirements specific to fixed income (Coupon Type, Payment Rank, Credit Ratings and Investment Grade distinctions, groupings between Syndicated Loans, ABS and bonds) are not standard. Myriad handled all of it within its existing architecture.
That readiness is what made the timeline that followed possible.
How the fixed income MDA went live in seven months
From initial discussions in May 2025 to a live client portfolio by December 2025. Seven months from concept to a real client invested in a live fixed income MDA.
The process started before any workshops. Chelmer and IAM held a two-phase pre-implementation consult: the first to work through the product and the options for how it might operate in technology; the second to establish a shared language, mapping the terms and concepts specific to fixed income MDA across the platform. Both teams then went away to do further thinking. Questions and decisions were handled by email in between.
The pace was possible for two reasons. Myriad was ready – there was no development work to commission, no new platform to learn, and no time lost onboarding IAM’s data. A design environment was available immediately, and the team could see outcomes against real data from day one. And because the relationship between IAM and Chelmer was already established, both teams arrived at the workshops ready to make decisions rather than establish trust.
The rollout was staged deliberately. Early adopter advisers and clients went first. Each saw context-driven menu items and pages configured by IAM to show the information that mattered to their service model. The client portal gave end investors direct visibility over their holdings, coupon payments and portfolio composition.
Andy Robertson describes the process from start to finish: “The process was a genuine collaboration all the way through.”
Nick notes that the portal has since become part of IAM’s commercial process: “We show prospective clients what their portfolio will look like before they’ve signed anything. The portal sells itself.”
What made the IAM and Chelmer partnership work
Nick May is unambiguous about what made this project work: “It’s a true partnership. Chelmer listens when we articulate problems to solve. They keep strong ongoing communication, which keeps both sides well informed. It’s unlike any other vendor relationship we’ve experienced.”
From Chelmer’s side, Andy Robertson points to the same thing, differently framed. Getting the right people into a room. Making decisions quickly. Having real data to work with from day one. “When you can see the outcomes in the design phase rather than speculating about them, everything moves faster.”
Alin Ungureanu, CEO of Chelmer, adds: “The success of this collaboration comes down to the people at both organisations. That’s what made it possible to move as fast as we did.”
Seven months from concept to live portfolio. That timeline reflects a platform built for this kind of complexity, and a working relationship on both sides defined by clear communication and decisions made at pace.
The results: eleven portfolios and recurring revenue
Eleven portfolios onboarded since go-live. A growing pipeline of new MDA clients in discussion and increasing funds under management.
IAM can now serve wholesale clients they previously couldn’t support at scale. The Income MDA gives those clients institutional-grade access to a diversified portfolio of investment-grade bonds and syndicated term loans, with direct asset ownership and no pooling of funds. For a segment of the market that had limited options for this kind of exposure, it fills a genuine gap.
The revenue model has changed too. IAM now earns a recurring management and custody fee, deducted directly from coupon payments – a meaningful shift away from transactional brokerage income toward predictable, annuity-style revenue.
The Myriad client portal has become part of IAM’s commercial toolkit. Screenshots appear in their sales materials. Prospective clients see what their portfolio will look like before they commit.
What’s next for IAM’s Income MDA
The IAM and Chelmer teams are continuing to build. Mobile capability, enhanced performance reporting and more detailed performance attribution are on the roadmap. Each will give IAM’s clients and advisers a clearer picture of their portfolios and more ways to engage with their investments.
Notably, some of the development work undertaken for the MDA is already informing what’s possible across IAM’s broader client base. Performance and compliance reporting built for MDA oversight may extend back over IAM’s non-managed accounts as well – a sign that the technology investment is compounding beyond its original scope.
For Chelmer, the IAM implementation adds to a growing body of work in specialist fixed income. Every implementation informs the next. The configuration decisions, the workflow design, the fixed income-specific requirements built with IAM are available to the next firm that wants to offer managed discretionary accounts without starting from scratch.
Frequently asked questions
What is a fixed income MDA?
A managed discretionary account (MDA) lets investors allocate capital, set a mandate, and have a trusted manager take care of the rest. IAM’s Income MDA applies this to fixed income, combining direct ownership of investment-grade bonds and syndicated term loans, with no pooling of funds. It is available to wholesale investors at a minimum of $1 million.
How long did it take IAM to launch its fixed income MDA?
Seven months. Initial discussions began in May 2025, and a live client portfolio was in place by December 2025.
Did Myriad need new development to support a fixed income MDA?
No. Chelmer had built core MDA functionality into Myriad years earlier, including models, model compliance, automated rebalancing and order generation. The platform was already multi-currency and multi-asset class.
Why do fixed income MDAs need different technology from equity MDAs?
Most MDA platforms are designed around equities. Fixed income needs asset classifications that are not standard, such as Coupon Type, Payment Rank, Credit Ratings and Investment Grade distinctions, and groupings between syndicated loans, ABS and bonds. Myriad handled all of these within its existing architecture.
What is Myriad’s Model of Models approach?
A building brick approach to portfolio construction. Rather than a single fixed portfolio template, allocations are built from modular components, with individual models for different asset types sitting beneath an overarching portfolio model. For IAM, this means allocations between syndicated loans, ABS and investment-grade bonds can be adjusted as market conditions change, while mandate compliance is maintained across every client portfolio.
Can advisory and MDA services run on the same platform?
Yes. IAM runs advisory and MDA services on Myriad, with both operating within a single, unified environment.
What results has IAM seen from its Income MDA?
Eleven portfolios onboarded since go-live, a growing pipeline of new MDA clients, and a shift from transactional brokerage income to a recurring management and custody fee deducted directly from coupon payments.
About IAM
Income Asset Management Group (IAM) is an Australian fixed income specialist and ASX-listed company (ASX: IAM) providing wholesale investors with access to investment-grade bonds, syndicated loans, ABS, and managed accounts. IAM has participated in over $5 billion of issuances, and its clients now hold more than $500 million in bank syndicated loans. incomeam.com
About Chelmer
Chelmer is a wealth technology company providing specialist software solutions to the financial services industry across Asia-Pacific. Its integrated software suite, Myriad, is used by leading broking and wealth management firms to manage billions in investor assets. Established in 1988, Chelmer has more than 30 years of experience pioneering financial technology. chelmer.co