MutualFundWire.com: Citi Notches a Victory

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Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Citi Notches a Victory

Victory Capital Management, a subsidiary of KeyCorp., has renewed its contract with Citi for sub-administration, sub-fund accounting and transfer agency services. The renewal took effect in the third quarter, Citi officials said. They declined to provide details on the terms of the renewal.

"This is the first renewal [of the Victory contract] in the Citi era," said Bob Wallace, global head of fund services, in an interview with The MFWire on Tuesday.

Bob Wallace
Citi
Global Head of Fund Services

Victory's relationship with Bisys, which Citi acquired in 2007, dates back to 1986. The expanded mandate includes custody services.

"Over the course of our association, we have developed an extraordinarily strong working relationship with Citi," said Victory Capital Management chief operating officer David Brown in a press release.

Brown was not immediately available for further comment on Tuesday.

In North America, Citi counts 105 clients in mutual fund servicing, according to a company spokesperson. Assets under administration total $286.4 billion.

"For service providers, this is a good time as asset managers are focusing on core operations and outsourcing back-office functions," Wallace said.

Company Press Release

New York, NY, Dec 1, 2009 – Citi today announced that it has been awarded a contract renewal that also includes an extension of its fund services to Victory Capital Management and to the Victory Funds. Specifically, Citi will continue to provide sub-administration and sub-fund accounting to Victory Capital Management and transfer agency support services to the Victory Funds. As an extension of the mandate, Citi will now serve as Global Custodian to the Victory Funds.

This recent alignment strengthens a long-standing collaboration among the firms. As the asset manager and its funds have grown and their requirements have expanded, Citi has delivered an increasingly broader suite of fund services to support the firm’s investment strategy.

“Over the course of our association, we have developed an extraordinarily strong working relationship with Citi,” said David Brown, Chief Operating Officer of Victory Capital Management. “Citi has consistently provided us with fund solutions to match our specific needs, delivered with an excellent level of service, for the benefit of our firm and, more importantly, our funds’ shareholders.”

Neeraj Sahai, Citi’s Global Head of Securities and Fund Services, likewise emphasized the strength of the Victory-Citi partnership. “Victory is an innovative fund firm – always seeking new and better ways to achieve shareholder satisfaction and growth opportunities. Citi is the perfect fit, because we provide a broad suite of proven global solutions that support innovation in a flexible and cost-effective way,” he said. “We look forward to delivering additional services to Victory to support their continued success.”

In addition to its integrated suite of end-to-end fund solutions for asset managers, Citi’s Investor Services include investment administration for institutional, high net worth and separately managed accounts, as well as local and global custody and securities finance. "Our goal is to partner with our clients in a way that best leverages Citi's enterprise strength to increase efficiencies across the lifecycle of an asset. As the investment industry evolves, we have the modularity of offerings, flexibility of choice and the capabilities to support new and established investment products to a wide-ranging global client base," said Citi's Sahai.

Through its Securities and Fund Services business, Citi provides institutions worldwide – investors, intermediaries and issuers – with an unparalleled portfolio of offerings that enable them to grow, reduce cost and mitigate risk. With over $11 trillion of assets under custody and the industry's largest proprietary network, clients can also leverage Citi's strength in capital markets to extract value across the entire investment value chain.

Global Transaction Services, a division of Citi's Institutional Clients Group, offers integrated cash management, trade, and securities and fund services to multinational corporations, financial institutions and public sector organizations around the world. With a network that spans more than 100 countries, Citi's Global Transaction Services supports over 65,000 clients. As of the third quarter of 2009, it held on average $314 billion in liability balances and $11.8 trillion in assets under custody

About Victory
Victory Capital Management Inc. is an established investment management firm with a distinguished 100-year heritage. Victory manages over $45.4 billion in investment portfolios including the Victory Funds, a family of more than 20 mutual funds. Headquartered in Cleveland with operating divisions in New York and Cincinnati, Victory serves clients in almost every U.S. state and many foreign countries. Victory’s distinguished client list includes national, regional and independent broker dealers, retirement plan providers, corporations, Taft-Hartley plans, public sector entities, and endowments and foundations.

About Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries. Through Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at HYPERLINK www.citigroup.com www.citigroup.com or HYPERLINK www.citi.com www.citi.com.