Travers to head Aussie custody for State Street

State Street's investor services business in Australia and New Zealand will now be headed by David Travers as Peter Baker is appointed managing director of the bank's business in London. Travers is being promoted from general manager and chief operating officer to take on the new role.

The changes take effect on June 1 and Travers will report to regional boss KK Tse.

In London, Baker will assume responsibility for collective, insurance and pension fund clients. He will report to Jeff Conway, who is head of State Street's Investor Services in the UK, Northern Europe, South Africa and the Middle East.

Baker says the moves signify the completion of a three-year strategic shift in focus for the bank's investor services business in Australia.

"Over the past three years our focus in Australia has been to evolve from solely a back office service provider to superannuation funds, to become the pre-eminent provider of middle and back office servicing solutions to sophisticated institutional investors," he says. "We feel our record of new business wins - such as AXA, Australia's largest investment operations outsourcing deal to date - and the successful integration of those clients, shows we have achieved that status."

Travers jointed State Street in September 2000 as an operations director and was promoted to general manager two years later. In his previous life, he spent two years as a relationship manager at Chase and 4.5 years as head of operations for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter global custody before this business was acquired by Chase.

Travers says as head of State Street's business in Australia he will lead the introduction of flexible reporting cycles, enhanced registry products and new middle-office outsourcing solutions - roll outs all planned for 2004.

"We are in a strong position for upcoming outsourcing opportunities as we have the technology and the capabilities to build solutions to fit the needs of any institutional client," Travers says.