Macquarie strikes ING wrap deal

ING Australia, has struck a deal withMacquarie Investment Managementfor the latter to provide outsourced systems and administrative functions for ING’s wrap offering.

The deal is expected to be complete in the second half of 2004, with Macquarie taking over administration of the ING wrap, while ING itself will retain control over the product’s branding and marketing along with its role as responsible entity.

“Outsourcing these functions will allow us to more rapidly upgrade the functionality and efficiency of our wrap service,” ING Australia marketing executive director Ross Bowden says.

Bowden says Macquarie has a good reputation for its wrap administration capabilities in the market.

“The arrangement with Macquarie allows us to bring forward a number of enhancements to the transacting and reporting functions for our Wrap Service that are important to our customers,” Bowden says.

Meanwhile Macquarie Adviser Services executive director Neil Roderick was also positive about the deal.

“We firmly believe this new arrangement will benefit ING and Macquarie, but most importantly it will benefit the advisers and investors who use this service,” he says.

This new alliance follows the conclusion of a deal earlier in the month which saw Macquarie acquire the broader ING Group’s Asian equity business for an undisclosed sum.

The deal when complete will see a number of ING’s operations in the region and spanning 10 countries transfer to Macquarie, including its equity sales, trading and research interests.

Macquarie will also take on the Dutch bank’s Asian sales and trading desks in London, New York along with other European and North American locations.