Wilmington Trust chooses SEI Corp over SunGard

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about the change of command at Wilmington Trust Bank. At that time I mentioned that there would be some changes. From a personal point of view, my fear was that the bank would start selling off sections. Today, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, I read that SEI Corp was selected over other investment concerns, including Sungard, to provide processing and accounting systems for Wilmington Trust’s advisory businesses including Wealth Advisory Services and Corporate Client Services. According to Wilmington Trust, it was crucial for them to provide a superior client service. Of course, it would be considering that their advisory businesses bring in about half of Wilmington Trust’s revenue and therefore key to their future growth. I had to wonder, though, what SEI Corp could offer Wilmington Trust that the current provider, Sungard, could not?

Company comparison:

Sungard:
Private company – founded 1983
20,000 employees
25,000 customers
70 countries
Provides software & processing solutions for financial services, higher education and public sectors
Provides disaster recovery services, managed IT services, business continuity management software
Revenue – annually: $5 billion
Fortune 500 ranking: 380


SEI Corp:
Public company – founded in 1983
2239 employees
7000 clients
50 countries
Provides client wealth solutions – both institutional and private
Offers solutions in five wealth management markets: private banks, financial advisors, institutional investors, investment managers and individuals
Administers $394 billion in mutual fund & pooled assets: $162 billion in assets

According to Joe Distefano’s blog, SEI beat out Sungard because Wilmington Trust felt that SEI’s services expertise and ongoing technological innovation were better than Sungard’s and also SEI could offer a great cost reduction over the next ten years. SEI is more of a trust company than Sungard as well as being a public company.

I guess time will tell if the new powers in Wilmington Trust made the right decision. In the meantime Philly, keep checking SEI’s site for new job postings. With such a new undertaking you should be able to expect at least a few new positions to open up with SEI.

By: Nancy Anderson, Staff Writer