In what it characterized as an “acceleration” of the transformation of its full-service recordkeeping business, T. Rowe Price has announced plans to transfer responsibility for its retirement technology development and core operations to FIS National Information Services.
In a May 18 press release, T. Rowe Price said it was expanding its 30-year relationship with FIS, leveraging FIS’ scale and extensive experience in retirement technology and operations while focusing on its own strengths in investment management and client service to “grow its defined contribution business in a scalable and efficient manner.”
Since T. Rowe Price already uses FIS’ recordkeeping platform, there will be no conversion or transition for any clients, according to the firms. That said, the shift will mean that some 800 T. Rowe employees (about 10% of the company’s workforce) are being offered the same roles within FIS that they have today, effective Aug. 1, 2021—at the same T. Rowe Price offices in Owings Mills, MD and Colorado Springs, CO where they work now.
Moving forward, T. Rowe said the move will allow it to concentrate on its core strengths as a recordkeeper and continue to be responsible for delivering strong investment management, high-touch client service, and personalized participant experiences. Plan sponsors will continue to be served by their same client service teams and T. Rowe will retain accountability for all recordkeeping services.
FIS serves some of the industry’s largest recordkeepers and provides the technology platform for 50 million participants and more than $3 trillion in assets.
Ultimately, T. Rowe Price said, the shift will allow the firm to accelerate the pace of enhancements it delivers to clients, including recordkeeping modernization; additional retirement income experiences; new financial wellness and digital payment capabilities; and incorporation of the latest in artificial intelligence, automation and robotics technology.
The move echoes the announcement last summer that Vanguard was moving some 1,300 workers currently supporting the firm’s full-service recordkeeping client administration, operations and technology functions to Infosys. Similarly, those workers were being offered comparable positions at Infosys in close proximity to Vanguard’s offices in Malvern, PA; Charlotte, NC; and Scottsdale, AZ. Infosys serves half of the top 20 retirement service firms in the U.S., according to the firm.
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