QUINCY, Mass., June 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Financial
Data Services, Inc., a leading financial services provider, today
announced the results of its 4th Annual Financial Intermediary
Administration Survey of mutual fund companies.
The 2014 survey, which was designed to provide insight into how
the industry is addressing the challenges of financial intermediary
(FI) oversight related to shareholder activity, indicates that
legal/regulatory risk remains far and away the greatest concern
faced by fund companies.
Of particular note this year, 71% of survey respondents
identified reputational risk as an increasing area of attention, up
from 63% in 2013. In addition, approximately 70% of survey
participants indicated that their fund boards have intensified
focus on FI-specific oversight and management activities in the
last year.
According to Mike McNeill,
managing director of Boston Financial's Financial Intermediary
Administration (FIA™) business, effective intermediary oversight is
clearly perceived as a serious need at the Board level.
"Regulators recognize that many funds have more shareholder
positions on the FI recordkeeping systems than their transfer agent
system," says McNeill, "and we are all aware that they're working
to better understand the interactions between intermediaries and
the fund companies.
As a result, and confirmed in the survey, boards are asking the
funds to enhance financial intermediary oversight processes to
ensure they can better understand and manage all aspects of these
relationships."
The survey also indicates that the vast majority of respondents
– 91% – expect the need for effective FI oversight will continue to
grow. While SEC activity is almost universally identified as the
primary reason, 83% believe fund board interest will drive this
increase as well, up sharply from 67% last year.
As the largest provider of transfer agency services in the U.S.,
Boston Financial is uniquely positioned to gain input on current
fund company needs and service gaps and to monitor sentiment about
the business landscape. Boston Financial's FIA Solutions
provides fund companies with data and relationship management
information and tools to improve FI payment administration and to
simplify inspection and monitoring obligations.
For additional information on the survey's Key Findings, visit
www.bostonfinancial.com/fia/survey/2014/.
About Boston Financial
Boston Financial Data Services is one of the industry's premier
outsourcing providers servicing the financial marketplace. Boston
Financial is a joint venture between DST Systems, Inc. (NYSE: DST)
of Kansas City, Mo., and State
Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) of Boston,
Mass. This joint venture has enabled Boston Financial's
clients to utilize DST's industry-leading software and technology
while benefiting from the institutional support and global reach of
State Street. For more information, visit
www.bostonfinancial.com/fia.
Contact:
Ann Marie Mierzykowski
Boston Financial Data Services, Inc.
617.483.8109
amierzykowski@bostonfinancial.com
SOURCE Boston Financial Data Services, Inc.