Pritzl will be responsible for establishing and executing business goals and strategies that reduce costs and ensure timely and accurate customer service, the firm says. He will direct
a team of professionals that provides quality control to ensure client services are compliant with the codes of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), as well as plan document provisions and
TRA policy.
Pritzl joins TRA from PAi, where he was a client services manager
in charge of a 14-member team of cross-functional employees including sales,
new business installation, client service and administration.
DST Systems, a provider of strategically unified data management, business processing, and customer communication tools, says it has acquired Kasina LLC, a strategic advisory firm to the asset management industry.
Combining DST’s data analytics and sales reporting tools with Kasina’s understanding of the challenges facing asset managers and insurers can
bring the financial industry new ways to make economically favorable business
decisions, DST Systems suggests.
New York-based Kasina provides business analytics, consulting
and research to the largest U.S. and global asset managers. The firm is recognized for
innovation in the areas of hybrid
wholesaling, profit-based compensation systems, digital marketing, social
media use, and behavior-based segmentation, DST says. Kasina’s consulting services include
engagements to analyze product strategies, sales models, and marketing
strategies.
Kasina was founded by Steven Miyao, who has served as the
company’s chief executive, and Lee Kowarski. Both will continue their strategic
roles for DST, where they will lead consulting and product development
organizations for the company’s financial services unit.
“Two industry leaders will be able to leverage their core
strengths,” Miyao says. “Together, we will provide clients with accurate,
timely, actionable data analytics and insights that will enable them to transform
their distribution, marketing, and product organizations.”
DST Systems provides data management, analytics and business
intelligence, including tools for financial services firms, such as the retirement
income clearing and calculation tool, a solution designed to
support retirement income product management through recordkeeping platforms.
The new combined entity will shore up DST’s offering of consulting,
research, data management and analytics to the asset management industry.
Kasina’s research and consulting capabilities will provide perspective
and insights that impact and leverage DST’s SalesConnect platform and its data-driven applied analytics capabilities.
According to Steve Hooley, president and CEO of DST Systems,
the acquisition of Kasina will combine with DST’s solid foundation of data
management excellence to produce a powerful new solution set for the industry.
“The synergy between Kasina’s strategic advisory expertise
and DST’s technical resources and systems will result in extraordinary benefits
for asset managers,” Hooley says. “The data-driven insights we’ll be able to
provide will literally change the way fund company executives view their
operations, their customers, and their market opportunities.”
Immediate plans call for Kasina to represent and enhance DST’s
“Predictive Wholesaling” and “Asset Persistency” products.
“Given their deep understanding of the business, Kasina will
provide us an enormous advantage in the way we help asset managers utilize
data, research and new technologies,” Hooley says.
DST Systems, with headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, is a
provider of information processing and servicing solutions to companies around
the world. More information is at www.dstsystems.com.