Isis Asset Management is outsourcing the administration of its entire Oeic and unit trust business to International Financial Data Services (IFDS).
The move will result in the closure of the Friends Provident fund administration division, which had previously administered former Friends, Ivory and Sime funds, at the cost of 40-60 jobs.
The Royal & Sun Alliance portfolios are already administered by IFDS and securing a common platform for the Isis range will enable the group to focus on fund management, as well as facilitating the harmonisation of charges across the merged range, says William Russell, head of retail at Isis.
He says the switch to the shared platform will be completed in the second quarter after the ISA season next year.
Friends Provident initially contracted with Midlands-based Wealth Management Software for the implementation of its Lisa unit trust software back in March 2000. This was followed in May 2001 with a further contract from Friends, Ivory & Sime for development services.
Executives at WMS were unavailable to comment on the implementation of the Lisa suite at Friends. It is not yet clear whether the decision to shut down the Friends Provident back office has any bearing on these contracts.