Permanent moves further into back office services
Trustee group Permanent has been signed with ISPT, the trustee of the Industry Superannuation Property Trust No.1, to provide back office functions for the super group.
Trustee group Permanent has been signed with ISPT, the trustee of the Industry Superannuation Property Trust No.1, to provide back office functions for the super group.
The deal will see Permanent supplying accounting, sub-custody registry and cash investment services for the fund’s $1.3 billion portfolio of 33 properties in what according to Permanent, is becoming a growing trend in the property trust industry.
Permanent chief executive Paul Lahiff says the trend in outsourcing back office is relatively new to property fund managers even though it has been occurring in other parts of the industry for some time.
However Lahiff says the reasons and benefits are the same with a cost efficiency and strategic value by having a specialist organisation manage the administration and processing functions.
“Outsourcing of back offices has occurred significantly in the funds management industry as pressure on margins and management expense ratios drove fund man-agers to find ways to be more competitive,” Lahiff says.
“The move into property trusts is a natural extension of this marketplace and we should see some real benefits in the bottom line from funds willing to outsource the back office.”
In February 1999 Permanent became the first trustee company to offer a full back office accounting service to the property fund industry when it began offering services to six funds held by the Commonwealth Bank.
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
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