PensionsFirst-State Street
State Street and PensionsFirst Analytics Form Strategic Alliance to Offer Enhanced Capabilities to Defined Benefit Pensions Industry*
BOSTON and LONDON April 15, 2010 – State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), one of the world's leading providers of financial services to institutional investors, and PensionsFirst Analytics (PFA), a UK‑based company providing advanced risk management and advisory services to the global defined benefits (DB) pensions industry, today announced a new strategic alliance marked by State Street's minority equity investment in PFA.
PFA recently launched PFaroe®, a Web‑based service that it expects to significantly enhance the measurement and management of DB pension risk. PFaroe provides an actionable view of plan assets and liabilities on a single platform believed to be unique in the industry. This new capability will enable pension sponsors, trustees and advisors to access detailed cash flow projections and scenario analysis. With this expanded analytics toolset, sponsors, trustees and advisors will be able to make better‑informed and more timely investment and de‑risking decisions.
"This alliance with PensionsFirst Analytics enables State Street to further enhance the services we bring to DB plan sponsors and reaffirms our strong commitment to this client segment," said Joseph Antonellis, vice chairman of State Street. "With concerns about underfunded pensions and the difficulty of accurately measuring liabilities, this innovative new product provides an enhanced level of transparency and insight into pension risk. We believe this strategic partnership creates a truly unique offering to our clients and provides a competitive advantage to both State Street and PFA."
State Street is a leading servicer of pension schemes, servicing more than 2,500 schemes worldwide. The company also manages more than $550 billion in defined benefit pension assets. (AUM as of December 31, 2009.)
Benjamin Reid, chief executive officer of PFA believes the strategic alliance will rapidly accelerate PFA's expansion and entry into the US market.
"We are delighted to have received this endorsement of PFA and PFaroe," said Reid. "State Street has a well-deserved reputation for identifying and investing in the right partners to provide clients with access to new and innovative solutions. Their large client base of pension funds worldwide represents an unparalleled opportunity for PFA to expand its offering to new customers."
"This step is innovative, necessary and welcomed by the industry," said Joe Moody, SSgA's global head of Liability Driven Investing. "PFaroe is designed for users with no specialist actuarial expertise and significantly reduces the time it takes to value pension liabilities and assets from months to hours and is designed to help managers of DB risk truly understand both sides of the balance sheet."
As part of State Street's investment in PFA, Joseph Antonellis has joined PFA's board as non-executive chairman. Separately, Amelia Fawcett, a State Street board member since 2006, resigned from the board of PensionsFirst Group in March 2010, effective upon the selection of her replacement. PensionsFirst Group is the majority equity owner of PFA.
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ABOUT PENSIONSFIRST ANALYTICS
London-based PensionsFirst Analytics provides advanced risk management and advisory services to the defined benefit pensions industry. PFA aims to transform the way pension scheme sponsors and trustees measure and manage pension risk.
PFA launched PFaroe® in November 2009 as a Web-based service aimed at delivering fast, accurate and up‑to‑date scheme information, allowing users to see assets and liabilities on a single platform, analyse cash flows and conduct scenario analysis in realtime.
PensionsFirst Analytics has a highly experienced and growing team from the actuarial, capital markets and technology industries. This multi-disciplinary combination brings a new perspective to the problem of measuring and managing defined benefit pension risk. For more information visit PensionsFirst Analytics at www.pensionsfirstanalytics.com.
ABOUT STATE STREET
State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is one of the world's leading providers of financial services to institutional investors, including investment servicing, investment management, and investment research and trading. With $18.8 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $1.9 trillion in assets under management at December 31, 2009, State Street operates in 25 countries and more than 100 geographic markets worldwide. For more information, visit State Street at www.statestreet.com.
ABOUT STATE STREET GLOBAL ADVISORS
State Street Global Advisors, investment management business of State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), delivers investment strategies and integrated solutions to clients worldwide across every asset class, investment approach and style. With $1.9 trillion in assets under management at December 31, 2009, State Street Global Advisors has investment centers in Boston, Hong Kong, London, Montreal, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto and Zurich, and offices in 26 cities worldwide. For more information, visit State Street Global Advisors at www.ssga.com.
* Compass Advisers acted as financial advisor to PensionsFirst in the transaction.