No one should have been surprised by the decision of Insight Investment to begin exclusive outsourcing negotiations with Northern Trust. Insight, the asset management arm of HBOS, has been publicly signalling its willingness to outsource for some time.
At a Financial News outsourcing roundtable last year, Atul Manek, Insight's chief operating officer, made the position clear. While maintaining that the group did not have a "burning platform" â serious back office deficiencies â Manek acknowledged the pressure to make an early decision.
