Barclays Wealth is looking to target IFAs with a high net worth client base with the launch of a new wealth management platform powered by SEI, Citywire reports, citing unnamed sources.

The wealth management platform is to be the responsibility of David Dalton-Brown, the former head of Fidelity FundsNetwork, according to the publication. Also instrumental to the development of the platform was former UBS wealth management executive Tim O’Connor, the report said; while at the Swiss banking giant, O’Connor had headed up its External Asset Managers platform offering, which was shuttered in 2008.

One of the sources quoted said that they believed the launch represents the “most significant platform deal there has been in 10 years” while another said that it would be primarily used to target regional HNW advisors.

Both Barclays Wealth and SEI declined to comment on the matter when contacted by WealthBriefing.

Intermediary platforms are an area of increasing interest from wealth managers eager to snap up assets from UK IFAs ahead of the implementation of the regulator’s Retail Distribution Review. This week Close Asset Management announced that it had selected the financial services technology firm FNZ to build a new multi-channel platform which will bring together its direct to consumer and retail advised offerings ahead of an integrated launch later in the year.

New entrants to the platform market will also see stiff competition from the likes of AXA Wealth, which recently announced that sales on its Elevate platform rose 140 per cent over the first quarter to £2.5 billion ($4.1 billion).