J.P. Morgan has expanded its mandate to Nationwide Funds Group (NFG) to include mutual fund services. J.P. Morgan previously provided NFG with global custody and securities lending services. It will now add fund accounting, fund administration and transfer agency services to provide a complete back-office solution for NFG.
Nationwide Funds Group is the asset management business of Nationwide Financial Services, and manages $321 billion in assets in its 92 mutual funds, with approximately 265,000 shareholder accounts.
To support Nationwides growth agenda, we felt it was important to align with a strong service provider, said Stephen T. Grugeon, Chief Operating Officer of Nationwide Funds Group. We looked for three key criteria from a provider: a fully integrated solution that would streamline operations and help mitigate risk; market-leading technology to support data integrity and changing market demands; and a partner with a strong balance sheet able to withstand the test of various market cycles, ensuring the stability of our ongoing business and maintaining continued strategic investments that will help us to serve our clients. J.P. Morgan was able to exceed in all of these areas.
Mark Kelley, global asset gatherer segment executive for J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services, said Delivering comprehensive solutions to asset managers is a primary focus. The Nationwide mandate marks our third recent major insurance asset manager client win. We are extremely pleased to align with a leader in the insurance industry and welcome Nationwide to our global franchise. This relationship demonstrates our ability to leverage our firm-wide capabilities and industry expertise to deliver best-in-class solutions to clients. By delivering an integrated servicing solution to NFG, we allow them to more fully access the information and data they require across multiple business functions.