Infosys Gains 8% On Strategic Partnership With Investment Firm Vanguard

Ahead of its financial results for June-ended quarter, shares of Infosys Limited surged as much as 8.3 percent to Rs 848.45 on Wednesday. The surge comes after the company announced its strategic partnership with US-based investment company Vanguard for a multi-year IT contract.

On Tuesday, in a stock exchange filing, the Bengaluru based company said that Vanguard has partnered with Infosys for "a technology-driven approach to plan administration and fundamentally reshape the corporate retirement plan experience for its sponsors and participants."

Vanguard is the largest defined contribution (DC) asset manager in the US and has been recognized by trade organizations and research firms for its retirement services and thought leadership.

"Through the partnership, Infosys will assume day-to-day operations supporting Vanguard's DC recordkeeping business, including software platforms, administration, and associated processes," it said.

"Participant phone calls will be serviced by both Vanguard and Infosys," it added.

"Together with Infosys, Vanguard will provide a cloud-based recordkeeping platform, enabling greater insights and unprecedented personalization to help deliver better outcomes for nearly five million participants and 1,500 sponsors. Planned enhancements for sponsors include AIenabled analytics capabilities, improved visibility of participant behavior, and ubiquitous operational support. In addition, the partnership will accelerate Vanguard's ongoing efforts to build a state-of-the-art participant experience, including a redesigned participant website, integrated advice, and intuitive technologies," it further said.

Approximately 1,300 Vanguard roles currently supporting the full-service recordkeeping client administration, operations, and technology functions will transition to Infosys. All Vanguard employees currently performing these roles will be offered comparable positions at Infosys in close proximity to Vanguard's offices in the US.

"Transitioning employees will receive the same salary, comparable benefits for a transition period of 12 months, plus meaningful incentive opportunities. Infosys is dedicated to this business and the transition offers prospects for long-term career growth and development," Infosys said in its statement.