OPERATIONS BRIEFS

JPMorgan Investor Services announced the launch of the JPMorgan Trade Settlement Tracking and Relative Ranking System. JPMorgan TradeS.T.A.R.R., developed by JPMorgan Invest or Services Information Company, is a Web-based application designed to help asset management and brokerage firms reduce operational risk and costs of failed trades. JPMorgan TradeS.T.A.R.R. uses a series of 10 metrics based on data from JPMorgan's global-trade settlements database to measure, analyze and statistically rank the settlement efficiency among broker/dealers, within and across markets.

The Government Superannuation Fund Authority of New Zealand has awarded JPMorgan Investor Services the Global Custody of approximately $3.4billion assets in its Government Superannuation Fund. The GSFA, a new Crown entity, assumed management and administration of the Government Superannuation Fund and its schemes earlier this month. Finance Minister Dr Michael Cullen said the move would improve the funds investment income and reduce the annual cost of financing the fund's benefits without incurring undue risk. Schemes administration, including the handling of member contributions and inquires, would continue to be contracted to AXA New Zealand while JPMorgan was selected for the global custody mandate.

SunGard announced its plans to expand its presence in Asia-Pacific. The company has established SunGard Asia-Pacific, headquartered in Singapore, specifically to distribute SunGard products in the region. SunGard is a global provider of integrated IT solutionsand eProcessing for financial services. SunGard also provides high-availability infrastructure for business continuity. With annual revenues in excess of $1 billion, SunGard serves more than 20,000 clients in over 50 countries.

Eagle Investment Systems Corp. announced that Orbis Financial Solutions Group is now a member of its premier list of Professional Services Channel Partners. Orbis will assist Eagle in the delivery of its Web-based solutions, Eagle STARand Eagle PACE, to the financial services industry. Eagle PACE is a Web-based, data-centric investment portfolio-management system designed to seamlessly integrate and automate front-, middle- and back-office functions and to provide straight-through processing capabilities. Eagle PACE includes a fully integrated performance measurement and performance-attribution calculation desk, a report design and distribution capability, a Web-based portal that facilitates portfolio management from wireless devices such as a Web-enabled PC, cell phone, or PDA device, and built-in connectivity capabilities to major industry data providers.

Dovetail Systems, a provider of business-process automation software to the securities industry, announced a partnership with Merrill Lynch to implement a straight-through- processing technology co-developed by the firms to power the electronic communication of trade data to securities-industry utilities. The new application, which is based on Dovetail's proprietary software, will advance Merrill Lynch's efforts to provide straight-through processing to the firm's institutional clients, including asset managers, as well as to other broker/dealers. Initially, the technology co-developed by the firms will enable the communication of trade data to the Transaction Flow Manager (TFM), a straight-through processing application patented by the Global Straight-Through Processing Association (GSTPA Ltd.) and managed by GSTP AG, an operating company established by the GSTPA.