State Street Corporation and Boston Financial Data Services, a joint venture of State Street and DST Systems, Inc. have been selected by Fifth Third Funds, the mutual fund arm of Fifth Third Asset Management, Inc. (FTAM) to provide a full range of investment services.
State Street will provide fund accounting, fund administration, custody and securities lending services for $13 billion in assets, and Boston Financial will provide transfer agency and shareholder recordkeeping for FTAM’s family of 31 mutual funds.
“State Street and Boston Financial offered an integrated solution that will help us yield administrative and operational advantages. Both companies’ reputation for reliability, knowledgeable client service teams, as well as the scalability of their services delivery, will help us manage our growth,” says Richard Ille, managing director of products and marketing at FTAM.
“Our customers continue to benefit from our ability to assume a wide range of services for their business. As our customers continue to seek trusted providers they can partner with for a variety of solutions, we remain committed to providing excellent service for their growing needs. We are excited to establish this new relationship with FTAM as they continue to build their business,” adds Alan Greene, executive vice president of State Street’s US mutual fund servicing business.
Boston Financial’s appointment reflects FTAM’s plans to market its Fifth Third mutual funds through external distribution channels, expanding beyond its current branch-office distribution network. Boston Financial will provide services including access to a suite of intermediary applications such as DST Vision a web-based account management tool for financial intermediaries.
“The combination of people, systems and technology that we provide positions us to meet changing business needs in the mutual fund industry. We look forward to helping Fifth Third to successfully expand its distribution network,” says Terry Metzger, COO, Boston Financial.