ING Australia has been an indirect user of HiPortfolio through an outsourcing provider since 2002, and is now internalising this operation. ING Australia considered several alternatives before selecting HiPortfolio. For ING Australia, the solution has the requisite functionality and it facilitates efficiencies with their licensed custodian who also uses it. The solution made for a lower-cost implementation which took place over a six month period.

ING Australia's Head of Financial Operations, Corporate Finance Group, Mr Geoff Allanson attributes the project's success to a robust and stable solution, an experienced project team, and a strong relationship with DST Global Solutions IMS.

"We wanted to refine our business structure with the separation of our internal product-related operations from our investment-related activities. The goal was to improve the management of cross-investment processing whilst reducing existing levels of operational risk. HiPortfolio enabled us to manage that separation, internalise any existing or client-related infrastructure and outsource any investment-related facilities," he explained.

"We are very pleased with the outcome and the overall speed of implementation of HiPortfolio," he continued. "Despite the project's complexity and challenges surrounding the transfer of vast amounts of information, we are very pleased with the result. The DST Global Solutions team remained focused on delivering the solution on time whilst taking particular care of our specific requirements.

"Tom Abraham, Global CEO for DST Global Solutions, added: "We are pleased to welcome ING Australia as a direct HiPortfolio client. This reinforces our position as a market-leader in the investment administration sector. Most importantly, the value added to our client is tangible."

HiPortfolio is developed and maintained at DST Global Solutions' Research and Development Centre in Melbourne, Australia.