UK – Morley Fund Management and JP Morgan Investor Services have announced they will be establishing an investment administration platform.

The two companies announced today that they are in advanced discussions with regards to establishing the service. It will combine Morley’s fund management administration operating platform with JPMorgan IS’ generic investment administration infrastructure.

As a result Morley Fund Management’s investment administration business will be outsourced to the new platform, with the operational assets and employees of Morley being transferred to JP Morgan. The operation will also offer its services to the external market.

Differing slightly to a pure outsourcing arrangement, “this is a new type of service that we believe will create best practice within our industry,” said Keith Jones, chief executive at Morley. Morley will be directly involved in shaping the infrastructure and delivery of the service.

Nick Alford, chief operating officer of Morley said the deal “moved beyond straight ‘lift-outs’ and outsourcing.” A spokeswoman said that Morley had looked at pure outsourcing but the needs of their clients were to complex, and they could not fund a company to match their exact needs.

The establishment of the service will allow Morley to focus on manufacturing and distributing its investment products.

The new service will develop across the next 12 months. It will carry out all existing core operational functions associated with Morley’s investment activities including fund accounting, securities administration, business analysis and client reporting. Heads of agreement are expected to be signed before the end of the year.

Also today, AXA Investment Managers announced it would be outsourcing its operational services of its US investment grade team to the Bank of New York, so as to focus on investment decisions.