Citi has been appointed by Prudential Hong Kong for its biggest fund administration deal in Asia Pacific to date. The US asset servicer will provide fund accounting, transfer agency and reporting services for more than 40 portfolios containing in excess of US$70 billion in assets under administration.  The mandate resulted from Prudential’s wish to consolidate its operational processes and move from three fund administrators to one. As the insurer increases its focus on Asia, the appointment of Citi is “important as we strive to attain better operational consistency, greater efficiency and stronger controls and governance,” said Nigel Knowles, chief financial officer at Prudential. According to Citi, there is an increasing trend among insurers in the region looking to streamline the number of service providers they use. The trend is also evident in other regions. A recent survey conducted by Funds Europe in association with vendor Temenos found that the majority of firms are looking to outsource more services to third parties, such as asset servicers, taking advantage of the investment that large asset servicing companies have made in their global operating models. © 2021 funds global Asia