U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, which made an acquisition last fall, is not putting its checkbook away.

Joe Redwine U.S. Bancorp Fund Services President

"We continue to look at acquisition opportunities that result in increased market share, expanded services, addition of key human resource talent or expanded geographical presence," said Joe Redwine, president of the Milwaukee-based fund servicer, in an interview. He added that U.S. Bancorp is not looking to do acquisitions that are transformational in nature. Rather, it is looking at tactical opportunities.

Last October, U.S. Bancorp Fund Services purchased Fiduciary Management Inc.'s mutual fund administration and accounting servicing division. The unit had more than $8 billion in assets under administration.

U.S. Bancorp Fund Services serves a total of more than 270 fund families with over 1,600 portfolios and 1,400 share classes as of April. It administers 3.7 million shareholder accounts.

Ian Martin U.S. Bancorp Fund Services' transfer agent EVP

Redwine said opportunities are growing in both the '40 Act and alternative investment fields.

In the '40 Act realm, Redwine said he's seeing opportunities reopening with the market bouncing back.

"During the recent turmoil, service provider decisions were, for all practical purposes, put on hold as the investment community focus, and rightfully so, was on retaining their customer base," Redwine noted. "That door has now reopened."

The firm's three newest customers have fund families with AUM of $25 billion, $1 billion and $500 million. U.S. Bancorp officials declined to disclose the identities of the new clients.

On the alternative investment side of the fence, Redwine points to two factors for the growth in outsourcing opportunities: the prospect of heightened regulatory oversight and investor demand for more transparency.

Meanwhile, U.S. Bancorp is working on making improvements to its portal.

"We're enhancing the portal where our clients can come in and access data more easily," said Ian Martin, executive vice president of the transfer agent for U.S. Bancorp Fund Services LLC. 

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