SunGard Securities Processing says it has managed to link Phase3 securities processing solution with Trustar Retirement Services , thereby eliminat ing some manual processes in the reporting of IRA information from Phase3, which manages the firm’s account and position books and records, to Trustar, which handles record-keeping and plan administration.
The new Phase3-Trustar interface includes automatic daily reporting of investors’ demographic, transactional and tax information for the IRAs administered by Trustar. Phase3 compiles the IRA data daily, when changes are made to accounts’ contributions, distributions, and demographic information, and provides it to Trustar securely via the Internet. In addition, Phase3 generates monthly reconciliation reports and an annual fair market value report in the same manner. The Phase3-Trustar connection is automatic and requires no action on the part of the Phase3 user to transmit information from Phase3 to Trustar. Prior to the new interface, Phase3 provided IRA information to Trustar on a monthly and annual basis via mailed magnetic tape, or brokers forwarded the account information to Trustar via fax.
For firms that have traditionally communicated via paper, Trustar offers cost incentives to switch to electronic data transmission. As a result, these firms not only experience reduced costs, they benefit from improved customer service because the Phase3-Trustar interface helps reduce errors due to re-keying information relayed to Trustar over the phone, and helps to ensure that customers’ records and statements are updated in a timelier manner.
Among the Phase3 customers using the Phase3-Trustar interface are correspondent clearer Penson Financial Services and retail brokerage Refco Securities Investor Services Group. Frank Faust, vice president and head of Refco Securities Investor Services, said, “The Phase3-Trustar interface enables us to build greater efficiencies in our processing and customer relations, ensures that we are dealing with the most accurate customer information, and helps us reduce costs and many of the manual tasks of getting information to Trustar in a timely manner.”
“Our goal is to constantly seek out better methods for improving efficiencies and reducing costs for our customers, and the Phase3-Trustar interface is a significant step in achieving this goal for the retail brokers we serve,” said Gerard Murphy, president of SunGard Securities Processing’s Phase3 unit.
Trustar Retirement Services offers its brokerage partners and their clients trust, administration, and compliance services for tax-advantaged brokerage accounts. It acts as trustee to more than 200,000 retirement and savings accounts holding in excess of $10 billion in assets. Over the past 25 years, the company expanded its product line beyond the traditional IRA market to nearly all tax-advantaged savings accounts.