Metavante Corporation today announced that it has entered into a long-term investment technology agreement with the trust and asset management division of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF). Metavante is the financial technology subsidiary of Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (NYSE:MI).
Regions Morgan Keegan Trust, Morgan Asset Management and RMK Timberland Group will use the technology resources of Metavante to provide fiduciary and investment management services to their clients. With assets of more than $30 billion, Regions Morgan Keegan Trust is the trust and asset management unit of Regions Financial Corporation. Morgan Asset Management is a registered investment advisor managing some $18 billion of assets. RMK Timberland Group manages more than $1 billion in timber properties for institutional clients.
Regions will use the TrustDesk and InvestDesk products from Metavante Investment Technology Services. TrustDesk is a paperless front-office environment offering a combination browser and Windows®-based system. This technology enables staff to enter transaction and trade orders at the point of origin, thus eliminating the need for paper transactions and trade order tickets. InvestDesk allows for real-time portfolio management, including easy access to all financial, synoptic and investment data within the trust accounting system. Both products will be made available to Regions Morgan Keegan Trust officers and the portfolio managers of Morgan Asset Management.
"After we announced our merger with the former Union Planters Corp., which was finalized earlier this year, we extensively evaluated both trust systems," said Ken Alderman, president, Regions Morgan Keegan Trust. "We determined that Metavante's TrustDesk system provides us with the advanced tools we need to ensure that we continue to remain consistent in day-to-day processing."
"Since 1997, Regions has been through nine successful trust services conversions with Metavante and we're equipped to effectively accommodate its anticipated 30,000 trust accounts once fully converted," said Douglas Smith, senior vice president and general manager, Metavante Investment Technology Services. "This, coupled with our commitment to providing excellent service and comprehensive product offerings, has resulted in Regions choosing to continue its relationship with Metavante."
Regions' Alderman added that not only is TrustDesk a complete trust processing solution, it is also recognized as an industry leader in front-office workstation technology.
"Its open architecture design, including InvestDesk, allows easy integration with outside systems and services," he said. Morgan Asset Management President Carter Anthony also commented on InvestDesk.
"The InvestDesk product offers new and improved tools for analysis of security holdings and portfolio composition, and will help us continue to increase the efficiencies of our trading process," Anthony said. "In turn, this will enable us to better serve our clients, in keeping with the Regions value of consistent and ever-improving quality of service."