State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT), the world's leading provider of services to institutional investors, announced today that it has successfully completed client conversions in Asia Pacific for the Global Securities Services (GSS) businesses acquired from Deutsche Bank in January 2003.
As part of the acquisition, State Street has significantly expanded its presence in the region. Singapore is now the site of a full State Street operating centre in Southeast Asia, in addition to existing facilities in Hong Kong, Japan and Australia. In addition to Deutsche Asset Management, GSS clients who have transitioned to State Street in Asia Pacific include Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Jockey Club, UOB Asset Management Ltd, and one of the largest insurance companies in Japan as well as many official institutions in the region.
"The conversion to State Street was a seamless process for us. We were kept informed of the progress from time to time until completion,'' said Jacob Tsang, Treasurer of Hong Kong Jockey Club. ''We also find the new platform to be extremely user-friendly and comprehensive. Above all, it was gratifying to see that the same client servicing team was assigned to implement the process to ensure continuity."
In the past year, a surge in new client mandates in the Asia Pacific region, along with the integration of the GSS clients, has contributed to State Street's significant business growth in the region. State Street was also recently named ''Best Custodian'' by Asiamoney, Finance Asia and The Asset magazines.
''We're delighted with the success of the GSS transition,'' said KK Tse, executive vice president of State Street and head of investor services for Asia Pacific. ''In addition to welcoming new clients to State Street, we have also strengthened our intellectual capital with the talented employees who joined us from Deutsche Bank. We look forward to building on this strong foundation to add to our business growth in the region.''
In 1985, State Street was the first international custodian to enter the Australian marketplace, and was awarded the largest outsourcing mandate in the region in 2002. Since 1991, State Street has provided a wide range of investor services in Japan as the only global custodian with a local operations center in Tokyo. State Street Hong Kong has provided investment services in the region since 1981 and is currently trustee and custodian for the Tracker Fund of Hong Kong, one of the 15 largest exchange traded funds in the world.