Bank of Bermuda's Global Funds Services has beefed up its operations in the Asia region through a new joint venture.

Bermuda Trust (Singapore) Ltd (BTSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of Bermuda and the leading fund administrator in Singapore has joined up with United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB), one of Singapore's leading banks to launch a new company - Asia Fund Services.

Asia Fund Services will offer highly automated and tailored unit holder registration services to fund managers in Singapore and ultimately the rest of Asia, raising the standard of current administration services within Asia's fund management industry.

The venture aims to provide significantly improved web-based data access to check balances and other portfolio data in a more timely manner.

The new company will be the major independent provider of this service in Singapore.

From the outset, it will process 220,000 transactions per annum, servicing existing clients of BTSL and UOB which consists of approximately 250, 000 individual investors.

Asia Fund Services is in advanced contractual negotiations with a leader in IT solutions for the financial services industry. The software is a sophisticated, end-to-end Unit Trust system that automates the entire Transfer, Agency and Registry functions providing the joint-venture company with cutting edge technology.

It is completely web-enabled and built on the latest generation technology platform including highly automated processes and work flow engines which suit the requirements of the fund management and life insurance industries, and specifically Singapore's Central Provident Fund (CPF).

Commenting on the announcement, Nigel Stead, managing director, BTSL, Singapore said: "The needs of retail investment scheme managers in Singapore have become more sophisticated over the past five years, as have the needs of their clients.

"We believe that this product does much to satisfy the increasing demands of distributors, including newly regulated Independent Financial Planning companies, who wish to outsource their often complex data requirements to suppliers who are able to provide them with a solution that is both cost-effective and scalable."

This enhanced technology platform will be available to the customers of Asia Fund Services once it is fully operational, which, is expected to be on January 2 2004.

In the interim period, all customers will continue to benefit from their respective tailored fund service solutions.

The enhanced services will allow investment management companies to outsource non-core processing functions and focus on their core competencies.

Asia Fund Services will offer customised services that will meet the needs of the Singapore market underpinned by a modern `State-of-the-art" technology.

The joint venture presents a major step towards achieving a paperless environment for its clients.

Paul Smith, Global Head of Bank of Bermuda's fund administration division, Global Funds Services, said: "We are very excited about this development. We have seen in the US and Europe, that in tandem with the growth of retail investment comes demand for greater access to timely and accurate data.

Fund providers have responded with cost-effective plug-and-play solutions to meet their customers' demands.

In Singapore, with its increasingly sophisticated retail investor base, the need to follow suit has been recognised and we are delighted to be instrumental in pioneering an independent solution for the whole industry. We hope that ultimately the whole region will benefit."