The third annual Offshoring Study, produced in November 2005 by Deloitte Research, examines offshoring trends in the financial services industry.

The study was based on interviews with senior executives from a range of financial institutions (FIs) representing 62 global participants, 7 of the FIs in Australia and 46% of the top 50 global FIs by market value.

The results of this year’s study show the growing divide in offshore strategies, business models, and operating practices. It also highlights the key factors that drive offshore performance, and reveals best practices that the most successful companies are employing to achieve sustainable results.

The study examines a range of offshoring issues including:

• Scale and Scope - Financial services institutions need to increase the scale of headcount abroad, as well as the number of functions that they offshore, if they are to realise all the benefits of offshoring.
• Offshore Fatigue - Financial services institutions are experiencing a decline in savings and quality from offshore operations after four or more years, as ‘pioneering’ managers return home and the initial enthusiasm for offshoring begins to decline.
• Growth - Offshoring is expected to continue growing. Executives estimate that 20 percent of their total cost base will be moved offshore by 2010, a rise from 10 percent expected in 2006.