Back to GetFilings.com




QuickLinks -- Click here to rapidly navigate through this document

United States
Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, D.C. 20549


FORM 10-K


ý

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2001

or

o TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from                              to                             

Commission file number 1-14036


DST Systems, Inc.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware   43-1581814
(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation or organization)
  (I.R.S. Employer identification no.)

333 West 11th Street, Kansas City, Missouri

 

64105
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip code)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code (816) 435-1000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class
  Name of each Exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.01 Per Share Par Value   New York Stock Exchange
Chicago Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. YES /x/ NO / /

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in a definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. / /

Aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant as of
January 31, 2002:
Common Stock, $0.01 par value—$5,264,413,715

Number of shares outstanding of the Registrant's common stock as of January 31, 2002:
Common Stock, $0.01 par value—120,522,292

Documents incorporated by reference:

Portions of the following documents are incorporated herein by reference as indicated:

Document

  Part of Form 10-K into
Which Incorporated

Company's Definitive Proxy Statement for the 2002 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which will be filed no later than 120 days after December 31, 2001   Part III



DST Systems, Inc.
2001 Form 10-K Annual Report


Table of Contents

    Cautionary Statement With Respect To Forward-Looking Comments   2

Part I

Item 1.

 

Business

 

2
Item 2.   Properties   24
Item 3.   Legal Proceedings   25
Item 4.   Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders   25
    Executive Officers and Significant Employees of the Company   26

Part II

Item 5.

 

Market for the Company's Common Stock and Related Stockholder Matters

 

27
Item 6.   Selected Consolidated Financial Data   27
Item 7.   Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations   29
Item 7A.   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk   49
Item 8.   Financial Statements and Supplementary Data   51
Item 9.   Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure   82

Part III

Item 10.

 

Directors and Executive Officers of the Company

 

82
Item 11.   Executive Compensation   82
Item 12.   Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management   82
Item 13.   Certain Relationships and Related Transactions   82

Part IV

Item 14.

 

Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules and Reports on Form 8-K

 

83
    Signatures   90

The brand, service or product names or marks referred to in this Report are trademarks or services marks, registered or otherwise, of DST Systems, Inc. or its subsidiaries, affiliates or of vendors to the Company.

1




CAUTIONARY STATEMENT WITH RESPECT TO FORWARD-LOOKING COMMENTS

The discussions set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K contain statements concerning potential future events. Such forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions by the Company's management, as of the date of this Annual Report, including assumptions about risks and uncertainties faced by the Company. Readers can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of such verbs as expects, anticipates, believes or similar verbs or conjugations of such verbs. If any of management's assumptions prove incorrect or should unanticipated circumstances arise, the Company's actual results could materially differ from those anticipated by such forward-looking statements. The differences could be caused by a number of factors or combination of factors including, but not limited to, those factors identified in the Company's amended Current Report on Form 8-K/A dated March 19, 2002, which is hereby incorporated by reference. This report has been filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") in Washington, D.C. and can be obtained by contacting the SEC's Public Reference Branch. Readers are strongly encouraged to obtain and consider the factors listed in the March 19, 2002 Current Report and any amendments or modifications thereof when evaluating any forward-looking statements concerning the Company. The Company will not update any forward-looking statements in this Annual Report to reflect future events or developments.


PART I

Item 1.    Business

This discussion of the business of DST Systems, Inc. ("DST" or the "Company") should be read in conjunction with, and is qualified by reference to, Management's Discussion and Analysis of the Company's Financial Condition and Results of Operations ("MD&A") under Item 7 herein. In addition, pursuant to rule 12b-23 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the information set forth under the headings "Introduction" and "Seasonality" in the MD&A and the segment and geographic information included in Item 8, Note 13 are incorporated herein by reference in partial response to this Item 1.

The Company was originally established in 1969. Through a reorganization in August 1995, the Company is now a corporation organized in the State of Delaware.


RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE COMPANY'S BUSINESS

The recent business developments of the Company and the Company's subsidiaries follow.

EquiServe, Inc. ("EquiServe")

On March 30, 2001, DST completed the acquisition of a 75% interest in EquiServe by purchasing interests held by FleetBoston Financial ("FleetBoston") and Bank One Corporation ("Bank One"). On July 31, 2001, DST completed the acquisition of the remaining 25%, which was owned by Boston Financial Data Services, on essentially the same terms provided to FleetBoston and Bank One. EquiServe is one of the nation's largest corporate transfer agency service providers, maintaining and servicing the records of approximately 27.2 million shareholder accounts for approximately 1,400 publicly traded companies.

The acquisitions were accounted for as a purchase and the results of EquiServe's operations are included in DST's 2001 consolidated financial statements beginning March 30, 2001. The minimum purchase price of $186.7 million is to be paid in four installments. The first installments of approximately $58.5 million were paid at the closings. The second installments, scheduled for February 28, 2002, are estimated to be approximately $55.8 million. The remaining two minimum installments, which total approximately $72.4 million (discounted to $65.2 million for accounting purposes) are payable on February 28, 2003 and February 28, 2004. The remaining minimum purchase

2



price installments can increase pursuant to a formula that provides for additional consideration to be paid in cash if EquiServe's revenues as defined in the agreements for the years ending 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 exceed certain targeted levels. The minimum purchase price (discounted to $177.3 million for accounting purposes) has been allocated to the net assets acquired based upon their fair values as determined by a valuation. Goodwill will be increased by the amount of contingent consideration paid. This goodwill will not be subject to amortization per Statement of Financial Accounting Standard ("SFAS") No. 142.

Assuming the acquisitions had occurred January 1, 2000, the Company's consolidated revenues would have been $1,742.7 million and $1,671.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2001 and 2000, respectively. Consolidated proforma net income and earnings per share would not have been materially different from the reported amounts for 2001 and 2000. The unaudited proforma amounts are not indicative of what actual consolidated results of operations might have been if the acquisition had been effective at the beginning of 2000.

New Mutual Fund Clients

The Company has preliminary commitments from three new clients to convert approximately 8.8 million mutual fund shareowner accounts to TA2000, of which 1.8 million are scheduled to convert in the first quarter 2002, 0.5 million are scheduled to convert in the third quarter 2002 and 6.5 million are scheduled to convert in the first quarter 2003.

New Products

DST launched two new products in January 2002: TA2000 Subaccounting and Managed Account Platform ("MAP"). TA2000 Subaccounting is offered on a remote basis to broker/dealers who perform shareowner accounting and record keeping for mutual fund accounts that have been sold by the firm's registered representatives. MAP is a proprietary system designed to facilitate the distribution, investment management, trading, reconciliation and reporting for "Managed Accounts." Managed Accounts are generally individual investment accounts offered by financial consultants who provide advisory services and managed by independent money managers using an asset based fee structure.

Portfolio Accounting Systems ("PAS")

On June 29, 2001, DST sold its PAS business to State Street Corporation ("State Street"). DST offered PAS services primarily to the U.S. mutual fund industry on a remote processing basis. DST received, in a taxable transaction, proceeds of $75.0 million, comprised of approximately 1.5 million shares of State Street common stock and cash. In conjunction with the transaction, DST agreed to provide data processing services for PAS and agreed to a non-compete agreement for a period of five years, for which elements a portion of the purchase price has been deferred. DST recognized a one-time gain of $20.0 million after taxes, deferrals and other expenses.

DST recorded revenue related to PAS of $9.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2001 and $19.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2000. The PAS business unit had approximately 80 associates who transferred to State Street with the transaction.

International Financial Data Services, Canada ("IFDS Canada")

DST Canada had been a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company since June 1993. To align the ownership of the international mutual fund/unit trust shareowner processing businesses, DST Canada was contributed to a joint venture, IFDS Canada, in January 2001, and is now owned 50% by DST and 50% by State Street. DST contributed its shares of DST Canada to the new joint venture while State Street contributed $43.5 million in cash. The Company accounted for the formation of the joint venture as a non-cash, non-taxable exchange. Accordingly, no gain was recognized from the transaction.

3



Effective January 2001, DST Canada's results of operations are no longer consolidated with the Company and the earnings of the joint venture are included in the Company's results on the equity basis. On a proforma basis, the contribution of DST Canada to the joint venture did not have a material impact on DST's net income or earnings per share in 2001.

EITF Topic No. D-103

Effective January 1, 2002, the Company adopted, as required, EITF Topic No. D-103, "Income Statement Characterization of Reimbursements received for "Out-of-Pocket" Expenses Incurred." Prior to the issuance of EITF Topic No. D-103, the Company netted the Out-of-Pocket reimbursements from customers with the applicable Out-of-Pocket expenditures. The Company's significant Out-of-Pocket expenses at the consolidated level include postage and telecommunication expenditures and at the Segment level include print mail services between the Financial Services Segment and the Output Solutions Segment. Under EITF Topic No. D-103, the Company will record the reimbursements received for Out-of-Pocket expenses incurred as revenue on an accrual basis. The Company estimates that annual consolidated revenues and consolidated costs and expenses will increase approximately $800 million to $1 billion as a result of adopting the EITF. Because these additional revenues are offset by the reimbursable expenses incurred, adoption of EITF Topic No. D-103 will not impact income from operations or net income. The EITF requires that comparative financial statements for prior periods be reclassified to comply with the new guidance, unless it is impracticable to reclassify prior-period financial statements. The Company is considering its ability to reclassify prior-period financial statements as required by EITF Topic No. D-103. The Company believes that the implementation of this revised accounting treatment will negatively affect the reporting of operating margins of its business segments.


NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

The Company has several operating business units that offer sophisticated information processing and software services and products. These business units are reported as three operating segments (Financial Services, Output Solutions and Customer Management). In addition, investments in certain equity securities and financial interests and the Company's real estate and computer hardware leasing subsidiaries and affiliates have been aggregated into an Investments and Other Segment. A summary of each of the Company's segments follows:

Financial Services

The Financial Services Segment provides sophisticated information processing and computer software services and products primarily to mutual funds, investment managers, corporations, insurance companies, banks, brokers and financial planners. The Company's proprietary software systems include mutual fund shareowner and unit trust accounting and recordkeeping systems offered in the U.S. and selected international markets; a defined-contribution participant recordkeeping system for the U.S. market; securities transfer and related systems offered to corporations, trustees and transfer agents; a variety of portfolio accounting and investment management systems offered to U.S. and international fund accountants and investment managers; and a workflow management and customer contact system offered primarily to mutual funds, insurance companies, health care providers, brokerage firms and banks.

The Financial Services Segment distributes its services and products on a direct basis and through subsidiaries and joint venture affiliates in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, Europe, Australia, South Africa and Asia-Pacific and, to a lesser degree, distributes such services and products through various strategic alliances.

4



Output Solutions

The Output Solutions Segment provides complete bill and statement processing services and solutions, including electronic presentment, which include generation of customized statements that are produced in sophisticated automated facilities designed to minimize turnaround time and mailing costs. This Segment provides its processing services and solutions in North America to customers of the Company's Financial Services and Customer Management Segments and to telecommunications, utilities and other high volume industries which require high quality, accurate and timely statement processing.

Customer Management

The Customer Management Segment provides sophisticated customer management and open billing solutions to the video/broadband, direct broadcast satellite ("DBS"), wire-line and Internet-protocol telephony, Internet and utility markets worldwide. The Company's software systems enable its clients to manage their operations across all aspects of their business including order processing, customer support, financial reporting, decision support, marketing, field services and collections. This Segment also distributes the Company's workflow management and customer contact systems to the industries it services.

The Customer Management Segment distributes its services and products on a direct basis, through subsidiaries in North America, the United Kingdom and parts of Europe and with international alliance partners in other regions of the world.

Investments and Other

The Investments and Other Segment holds investments in certain equity securities and financial interests and the Company's real estate and computer hardware leasing subsidiaries and affiliates. The Company holds investments in equity securities with a market value of approximately $1.3 billion at December 31, 2001, including approximately 12.8 million shares of State Street with a market value of $668 million and 8.6 million shares of Computer Sciences Corporation ("CSC") with a market value of $423 million. Additionally, the Company owns and operates real estate mostly in the U.S., which is held primarily for lease to the Company's other business segments.

5



Industry Revenue

The Company's sources of revenue by major industries served are presented below. The industries listed may be served by more than one of the Company's business segments.

 
  Year Ended December 31,
 
 
  2001
  2000
  1999
 
 
  (dollars in millions)

 
U. S. revenues                                
Mutual fund / investment management   $ 640.7   38.6 % $ 581.6   42.7 % $ 503.6   41.0 %
Corporate securities processing     257.7   15.5 %   10.8   0.8 %   15.1   1.2 %
Other financial services     126.2   7.6 %   126.1   9.3 %   115.2   9.4 %
Video/broadband/satellite TV     204.6   12.3 %   188.4   13.8 %   190.9   15.6 %
Telecommunications and utilities     166.8   10.0 %   162.9   12.0 %   150.6   12.3 %
Other     128.4   7.8 %   139.3   10.2 %   85.7   7.0 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Total U.S. revenues     1,524.4   91.8 %   1,209.1   88.8 %   1,061.1   86.5 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
International revenues                                
Mutual fund / investment management     81.1   4.9 %   98.8   7.3 %   109.2   8.9 %
Other financial services     21.7   1.3 %   24.3   1.8 %   25.0   1.9 %
Video/broadband/satellite TV     17.1   1.0 %   19.6   1.4 %   19.6   1.6 %
Telecommunications and utilities     4.2   0.3 %   1.5   0.1 %   5.7   0.5 %
Other     11.5   0.7 %   8.8   0.6 %   6.9   0.6 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Total international revenues     135.6   8.2 %   153.0   11.2 %   166.4   13.5 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total revenues   $ 1,660.0   100.0 % $ 1,362.1   100.0 % $ 1,227.5   100.0 %
   
 
 
 
 
 
 


FINANCIAL SERVICES SEGMENT

The Financial Services Segment attributes its growth to the expansion of the mutual fund industry, the acquisition of EquiServe and to the Segment's business strategy. The primary components of the Segment's ongoing business strategy are: (i) enhancement of its technology base and development of new services and products to strengthen its position as the leading provider of information processing services to the U.S. mutual fund market; (ii) expansion into markets where it can provide similar information processing and computer software services and products; and (iii) formation of strategic alliances and joint ventures with or acquisitions of established companies operating in target markets, both in the U.S. and internationally.

The growing volume and complexity of transactions in the financial services and other markets have resulted in increasing demand for more sophisticated systems to timely and accurately process information. Computer technology has provided an effective means of addressing this demand, but requires significant capital investment and expertise. As a result, many financial service organizations have relied on outside providers, such as the Company. The Company expects the information processing needs of these organizations to grow in volume and complexity presenting the Financial Services Segment with significant opportunities to sell its services and products.

6


 
  Year Ended December 31,
 
  2001
  2000
  1999
Financial Services Operating Data                  
Revenues (in millions)                  
  U.S.   $ 803.8   $ 503.1   $ 427.0
  International     99.9     117.9     127.9
   
 
 
    $ 903.7   $ 621.0   $ 554.9
   
 
 
Mutual fund shareowner accounts processed (millions)                  
  U.S.                  
    Non-retirement accounts     48.3     48.3     39.0
    IRA mutual fund accounts     19.9     17.9     14.0
    TRAC mutual fund accounts     7.4     5.9     3.4
   
 
 
      75.6     72.1     56.4
   
 
 
  International                  
    United Kingdom (1)     3.1     2.7     2.0
    Canada (2)     1.5     1.1     2.4
Security transfer accounts processed (millions)     27.8     2.8     3.4
TRAC participants (millions)     2.5     1.9     1.3
Automated Work Distributor workstations (thousands)     85.5     73.2     57.7

(1)
Processed by International Financial Data Services (U.K.) Limited, an unconsolidated affiliate of the Company.

(2)
Processed by International Financial Data Services (Canada) Limited, an unconsolidated affiliate of the Company.

U.S. Mutual Fund Shareowner Processing

Most of the Financial Services Segment's mutual fund clients are "open-end" mutual fund companies, which obtain funds for investment by making a continuous offering of their shares. Purchases and sales (referred to as "redemptions") of open-end mutual fund shares are typically effected between shareowners and the fund, rather than between shareowners. These transactions are based on the net asset value of the mutual fund on the date of purchase or redemption, which requires that the assets of the fund and the interests of its shareowners be valued daily. Accordingly, timely and accurate accounting and recordkeeping of shareowner and fund investment activity is critical.

Investor attraction to a wide array of mutual fund investment products with increasingly specialized features has significantly increased the number of mutual fund shareowner accounts, the volume of transactions and the complexity of recordkeeping. In addition, new technologies have changed the service requirements and distribution channels of the mutual fund market. The Company has made significant investments in computer capacities and systems to handle the increasing volume and complexity of transactions and distribution channels, to maintain its leadership position and to improve quality and productivity.

The Company typically enters into multi-year written agreements with its clients. Most of the shareowner accounts serviced by the Company are at mutual fund organizations that have been clients of the Company for more than five years.

7



Shareowner Accounting and Recordkeeping

The proprietary applications system for U.S. mutual fund recordkeeping and accounting is TA2000, which performs shareowner related functions for mutual funds, including processing purchases, redemptions, exchanges and transfers of shares; maintaining shareowner identification and share ownership records; reconciling cash and share activity; calculating and disbursing commissions to brokers and other distributors; processing dividends; creating and tabulating proxies; reporting sales; and providing information for printing of shareowner transaction and statement data and year-end tax statements. The system processes load, no-load, multi-class and money funds. TA2000 also performs many specialized tasks, such as asset allocation and wrap fee calculations. At December 31, 2001, the Company provided shareowner accounting processing services for approximately 75.6 million U.S. mutual fund shareowner accounts.

Mutual fund shareowner services are offered on full, remote and shared service basis. Selection by a client of the level of service is influenced by a number of factors, including cost and level of desired control over interaction with fund shareowners or distributors. "Full" service processing includes all necessary administrative and clerical support to process and maintain shareowner records, answer telephone inquiries from shareowners, brokers and others, and handle the TA2000 functions described above. In addition, Full service clients may elect to have the Company invest end of day available client bank balances into credit-quality money market funds. "Remote" service processing is designed to allow clients to have their own administrative and clerical staff access TA2000 at the Winchester Data Center using the Company's telecommunications network. "Shared" service processing allows client personnel to handle telephone inquiries while the Company's or an affiliate's personnel retain transaction processing functions. This service is facilitated by the implementation of Automated Work Distributor ("AWD"), which creates electronic images of transactions and makes such images, together with the status of the related transactions, available to the personnel handling the telephone calls.

The Company derives revenues from its mutual fund shareowner accounting services through fees charged for use of the Company's proprietary software systems, clerical processing services and other related products. These fees are generally charged on a per account and number of funds basis for system processing services and on a per account, number of fund and transaction basis for clerical services. The Company's policy is not to license TA2000.

Retirement and Savings Plan Accounting and Recordkeeping

Mutual funds are popular investment vehicles for individual and corporate retirement and savings plans. TA2000 supports Individual Retirement Accounts ("IRAs") including Roth and Educational IRAs (referred to as "Coverdell Educational Savings Accounts") and Section 529 Savings Plans.

The Company's TRAC system provides participant recordkeeping and administration for defined contribution plans, including 401(k), 403(b), 457, money purchase and profit sharing plans that invest in mutual funds, company stock, guaranteed investment contracts and other investment products. TRAC is integrated with TA2000, which eliminates reconciliation problems that occur when different systems are used for participant recordkeeping and mutual fund shareowner accounting. TRAC is offered on a full-service and remote basis by the Company. The Company regards the retirement plan market as a significant growth opportunity for its services and products because (i) that market is relatively new and experiencing significant expansion as more employers shift away from defined benefit programs; (ii) mutual funds, because of their features, are increasingly popular selections for investment by such plans; and (iii) each retirement plan participant normally elects to use multiple mutual fund investment accounts. Revenues from these services are based generally on the number of participants in the defined contribution plans, as well as per account fees for related mutual fund accounts processed on TA2000.

8



At December 31, 2001, TA2000 serviced 19.9 million IRA accounts invested in mutual funds, which included 4.6 million Roth and Educational IRA accounts. In addition, TRAC provided recordkeeping for 2.5 million retirement plan participants with 7.4 million related TA2000 mutual fund accounts at December 31, 2001. TA2000 also supported the processing of 0.7 million Section 529 plan accounts at December 31, 2001.

TA2000 Subaccounting

DST launched the TA2000 Subaccounting system in January 2002. TA2000 Subaccounting is offered on a remote basis to broker/dealers who perform shareowner accounting and recordkeeping for mutual fund accounts that have been sold by the firm's registered representatives. The Subaccounting platform, which is an enhancement of TA2000, is designed to meet the complex reconciliation and system interfaces required by broker/dealers who require this capability. Revenues are based generally on a per account and number of funds basis.

Products Supporting Mutual Fund Distribution and Marketing

The Company has developed products to meet the changing service requirements, distribution channels and increasing regulatory requirements affecting the mutual fund market.

The Company processes over 40% of the mutual fund industry's volume on Fund/Serv and Networking, two systems developed by the Depositary Trust and Clearing Corporation for broker distributed mutual funds. The Company has also developed Financial Access Network ("FAN"), the technological infrastructure that facilitates emerging channels of mutual fund sales and distribution via the Internet. Products and services utilizing FAN include (i) FAN Web, which enables clients to offer their investors direct inquiry to account information, financial transaction execution and literature fulfillment through a set of customized Internet templates that link the client's Web site to TA2000, (ii) FAN Web Direct, which offers clients a secure, seamless and efficient processing capability for electronic transactions from a client's own Web application directly into TA2000, (iii) FAN Investment Tracking, which enables shareholders to download their mutual fund transaction data through Quicken for Windows Online Investment Center, (iv) FAN Mail, which provides financial advisors and brokers with trade confirmations, account positions and other data via public network access and (v) Vision, which enables broker/dealers and financial advisors to view their clients' mutual fund and variable annuity positions, process transactions and establish new accounts.

Revenues from these services and products are based generally on the number of transactions processed.

Boston Financial Data Services, Inc. ("BFDS")

BFDS, a 50% owned joint venture with State Street, is an important distribution channel for the Company's services and products. BFDS combines use of the Company's proprietary applications and output solutions capabilities with the marketing capabilities and custodial services of State Street to provide full-service shareowner accounting and recordkeeping services to over 114 U.S. mutual fund companies. BFDS also offers remittance and proxy processing, class action administration services, teleservicing and full-service support for defined contribution plans using the Company's TRAC system. BFDS is the Financial Services Segment's largest customer, accounting for approximately 10.4% of the segment's revenues in 2001.

9


International Mutual Fund / Unit Trust Shareowner Processing

The Company provides international shareholder processing through three joint venture companies of the Company and State Street, which are as follows:

International Financial Data Services, U.K. ("IFDS U.K.")

IFDS U.K. offers full and remote service processing for unit trusts and related products serving 3.1 million unitholder accounts at December 31, 2001. It is the largest third party provider of such services in the United Kingdom. IFDS U.K. has developed FAST, a unit trust record keeping system and has converted all accounts serviced by it to FAST as of December 31, 2001.

IFDS U.K. derives revenues from its shareowner accounting services through fees charged for use of its proprietary software systems, clerical processing services and other related products. These fees are generally charged on a per account number of unit trust basis and transaction basis. IFDS U.K.'s policy is not to license FAST.

International Financial Data Services, Canada ("IFDS Canada")

IFDS Canada provides remote mutual fund shareowner processing in Canada and licenses its mutual fund shareowner system to mutual fund companies in related markets outside Canada. Revenues are derived from providing remote mutual fund shareowner processing services and time and material fees for client-specific enhancements and support to the remote processing system, and to a lesser degree, from licensing its mutual fund shareowner system to mutual fund companies. IFDS Canada provides full-service processing to the Canadian mutual fund industry using the iFAST mutual fund system and full-service processing for U.S. offshore mutual funds using TA2000. IFDS Canada also has installed its mutual fund system in Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland. Canadian mutual fund shareowner accounts serviced decreased to 1.1 million at the end of 2000 primarily from the loss of a client associated with an acquisition. IFDS Canada also services approximately five million accounts under software licensing or facility management, using the iFAST system.

International Financial Data Services, Luxembourg ("IFDS Luxembourg")

IFDS Luxembourg was formed in 2001 to provide mutual fund systems and services to the Luxembourg and continental European market. Utilizing the iFAST system, IFDS Luxembourg serviced approximately 0.1 million accounts at December 31, 2001. Revenues are derived from shareowner accounting services based generally on the number of accounts, number of transactions and number of unit trusts processed.

Corporate Securities Processing

The Company significantly expanded its position in the securities transfer industry through its acquisition of EquiServe in 2001. EquiServe is one of the nation's largest corporate shareholder service providers, maintaining and servicing the records of approximately 27.2 million registered shareholder accounts for more than 1,400 publicly traded companies. EquiServe clients include 17 of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and 151 of the companies in the Fortune 500.

Registered Ownership Accounting and Recordkeeping

EquiServe delivers a wide range of corporate shareholder service solutions, acting as a company's agent to transfer a shareholder's stock, disburse and reinvest dividends, mail and tabulate proxies, distribute annual reports and provide merger and acquisition services.

EquiServe provides corporations full-service processing, which includes all accounting and data processing support for transfer agent activities related to registered ownership. Registered ownership

10



occurs when the beneficial owner of the security is registered on the books and records of the corporation. When investors purchase stock through a broker, the investor may specifically direct the broker to register the shares purchased directly with the corporation. Registered owners receive all corporate communications, dividends, annual reports and proxy material directly from the corporation. Registered ownership comes in two forms: physical certificates or book-entry shares.

EquiServe provides custom services for corporate actions (mergers, acquisitions, stock splits, tender offers, odd-lots, etc.), initial public offerings and demutualization transactions.

EquiServe derives revenues from its securities processing services through fees for use of the Company's proprietary software systems, clerical processing services and other related products. These fees are generally charged on a per account, number of CUSIPs and number of transactions basis for accounting services. EquiServe also derives revenues from investment earnings related to cash balances maintained in corporate transfer agency bank accounts.

Employee Plan Administration

EquiServe services more than 350 employee stock purchase and stock option plans with over two million employee accounts. EquiServe provides a complete range of employee stock option services, from full service administration of employee stock option plans to remote support of companies who do their own recordkeeping services. EquiServe has developed a proprietary employee stock purchase plan system that tracks and reports disqualifying dispositions, utilizes an automated enrollment system and has the ability to provide multilingual printing and multi-currency disbursements to support internationally-based employee participants.

Revenues from these services are based generally on the number of employee accounts in the employee plans, the number of transactions processed and the number of employee plan accounts maintained.

Investment Plan Administration

EquiServe's Investment Plan Administration services encompass all types of investment plans, including direct stock purchase plans ("DSPPs") and traditional dividend reinvestment plans. EquiServe is the market leader in investment plan servicing, with more than 6.9 million plan participants for 105 direct stock purchase plan clients and 396 dividend reinvestment plans.

DSPPs (also called open enrollment plans) offer interested investors who are not current shareholders the opportunity to purchase shares directly in a company without going through a broker.

Revenues from these services are based generally on the number of transactions and the number of investment plan accounts maintained.

Fairway

DST is developing a new securities transfer system called Fairway, which is designed to meet the changing processing and regulatory and processing requirements of the corporate stock transfer industry. DST completed the initial phase of Fairway in 2001 and began converting clients to Fairway during the latter part of 2001. The Fairway conversion schedule is aligned with the completion schedule of the final phase of Fairway, which provides the functionality for the more complex corporate issuers. The implementation of Fairway and other DST proprietary software, such as AWD, will continue to provide EquiServe with the most technologically advanced software in the securities transfer industry. DST also plans to offer Fairway and AWD to other transfer agents on a remote processing basis.

Revenues for remote processing are generally charged on a per account and per CUSIP basis for system processing services. It is the Company's policy not to license Fairway.

11


Investment Management Products

DST International Limited, a United Kingdom company, ("DST International"), provides investment management and portfolio accounting software (primarily on a license basis) and services to over 500 clients in 40 countries worldwide, serviced by offices in the United Kingdom, U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Japan and South Africa. DST International offers a wide range of products and services, both in the U.S. and internationally, which used together form a complete integrated solution for the investment management community.

DST International offers a wide range of products both in the U.S. and internationally which used together form a complete integrated solution for the investment management community.

HiPortfolio/2 is designed for medium and large investment management firms that are seeking a turnkey system for investment accounting that can meet their global and international requirements with minimum customization. HiPortfolio/2 is a scalable, comprehensive front, middle and back office solution with over 250 clients worldwide.

HiInvest is a front and middle office solution for institutional fund managers which includes decision support, modeling, order management, compliance monitoring, performance measurement, performance attribution and client reporting.

HiWealth is a front office solution enabling private wealth managers to manage their clients. In addition to the same attributes as HiInvest, HiWealth includes integrated Customer Relationship Management ("CRM") and full use of the Company's work management software (AWD).

HiNet is a rules-based transaction processing solution aimed at medium to large investment management companies that has a high capacity, retail-focused variant for online Internet trading and portfolio accounting using state-of-the-art technology.

HiMessaging, designed to address the lack of an internationally agreed directive on messaging, offers a flexible and scalable solution for messaging for securities transactions. HiMessaging complies with all current messaging protocols and is fully adaptable for future demands.

HiReporting offers fund managers the opportunity to produce comprehensive reports according to their clients' individual needs. Various delivery mechanisms may be employed, such as Web, fax, CD-ROM and hard copy and the reports may include pictures, logos and graphs.

HiPerformance provides performance analysis for asset managers. The system is scalable to support both institutional and private client fund managers.

HiTrust is a Web-based, multi-currency and multi-lingual solution for mutual fund and unit trust processing. It has been developed for the specific needs of the Far Eastern and Australasian markets.

The Company derives revenues from the above products and services, from license fees, fees for customized installation and programming services and annual maintenance fees.

In addition, DST International also supports its long-established Impart/Uptix and Paladign investment accounting systems. DST International also distributes and supports AWD outside North America.

Automated Workflow Management

Automated Work Distributor ("AWD") is designed to help companies improve operating efficiency and customer satisfaction. The AWD system captures all customer interactions including mail, telephone calls, Internet, e-mail, faxes, etc., at the point of contact, prioritizes and assigns the work to the appropriate resource and tracks the contact through completion. By enforcing standard business processes independent of the origin of a request, AWD allows seamless delivery of consistent service across all channels, resulting in improved customer satisfaction. AWD also enables customers with

12



multiple service centers to seamlessly move work between locations, removing geography as a barrier to productivity gains. AWD's automation components allow customers to remove associates from tasks in which human interaction is not required, resulting in often-dramatic productivity improvements. The AWD product suite also includes imaging and document management, a contact center desktop, proactive call scripting, intelligent character recognition, digitized voice processing and full support for e-mail and Web-based customer service.

Initially introduced to enhance the Company's mutual fund shareowner recordkeeping system, AWD was designed to interface with a wide range of high volume application processing systems. AWD utilizes a client server architecture that enables it to operate on Sun Solaris, Microsoft Windows, or IBM iSeries servers utilizing Windows and browser-based desktops. AWD's application-centric architecture allows customers to implement the solution quickly, resulting in a rapid return on investment. The Company's integration toolkits and open product architecture allow AWD to easily interface with customers' existing mainframe or other application systems. AWD's customers include mutual fund and other investment management firms, insurance companies, brokerage firms, banks, healthcare companies and cable TV operators located in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, South Africa and Asia-Pacific. In addition, Computer Sciences Corporation Financial Services Group distributes the Company's AWD product to life and property and casualty insurance companies worldwide.

The Company has developed modular components enabling AWD to support various channels for customer interaction. These products include EnCorr, which automates the creation of print correspondence; PowerStore, which gives AWD users optical media access; AWD/RIP, which imports work into AWD from other computer systems and external networks; AWD/ST, which streamlines transaction processing with straight-through processing technology; AWD/NetServer, which extends AWD functionality to intranet and Internet environments; and AWD/eMail, which supports communications with e-mail-based users. In addition, AWD/Voice integrates call record/playback and computer-telephony integration technology into the AWD system. AWD/Contact is used by customer service representatives in a workflow-enabled call center environment.

AWD can be installed at the customer's site or the customer can access AWD at DST's AWD Data Center using the Company's telecommunications network.

The Company derives AWD revenues from multi-year bundled service and usage agreements based on the number of users accessing the software and fixed fee perpetual license agreements that may include provisions for additional license payments in the event the number of users increases. The Company also derives AWD revenues from fees for implementation services, custom programming and annual software maintenance.

Managed Account Platform

DST launched MAP in January 2002. MAP is a proprietary system designed to facilitate the distribution, investment management, trading, reconciliation and reporting for "Managed Accounts." Although they can take on different forms, Managed Accounts are generally individual investment accounts offered by financial consultants who provide advisory services and managed by independent money managers using an asset-based fee structure. Managed accounts can be individually profiled for risk, goals and preferences, are managed for tax efficiency and can be diversified among several types of investment instruments including stocks, bonds and mutual funds.

MAP is a fully integrated product that utilizes AWD and HiInvest. MAP increases automation and data flow between the plan sponsor, who distributes the product, and the investment manager, who is responsible for managing the account portfolio. MAP links the plan sponsor and investment manager through the use of AWD. The HiInvest component completes the loop with its trading, reporting, performance management and reconciliation functions. The open design of MAP will allow it to be

13



integrated with other DST proprietary products and is enhanced to facilitate the distribution of other securities by financial consultants and money managers.

Revenues for MAP are derived from recurring revenue based on the number of accounts.

Winchester Information Processing Services

Winchester Information Processing Services primarily supports the computing needs of the Company's Financial Services Segment and certain products of the Output Solutions Segment with two data centers in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Winchester Data Center ("Winchester") is the Company's primary central computer operations and data processing facility. Winchester has a total of 163,000 square feet, of which 76,000 square feet is raised floor computer room space. Winchester has seven mainframe computers with a combined processing capacity of more than 10,100 million instructions per second and direct access storage devices with an aggregate storage capacity that exceeds 46 trillion bytes. Winchester also contains more than 300 servers supporting NT, UNIX and AS/400 small and midrange computing environments. These servers are used to support DST's products and processing for certain of the Company's affiliates. The physical facility is designed to withstand tornado-force winds.

The AWD Data Center supports the Company's AWD Image processing services. The facility has a total of 13,000 square feet. The computer room houses IBM AS/400 computers and optical storage systems, which support more than 12,000 AWD Image users. AWD users include DST's Full-Service area as well as several of the Company's remote AWD customers and other financial services companies. The AWD Data Center also houses over 350 servers supporting various Company products and Winchester's remote tape storage using IBM's automated tape libraries. The Company derives revenues from its AWD data center based upon data center capacity utilized, which is significantly influenced by the volume of transactions or the number of users.

Both data centers are staffed 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week and have self-contained power plants with mechanical and electrical systems designed to operate virtually without interruption in the event of commercial power loss. The data centers utilize fully redundant telecommunications networks serving the Company's clients. The networks, which serve more than 120,000 computer users, have redundant pathing and software, which provides for automatic rerouting of data transmission in the event of carrier circuit failure.

The Company has an agreement with a commercial disaster recovery provider for computer processing in the event of a computer failure at Winchester. The Company's data communications network is linked to the disaster recovery provider's facility and network to enable client access to the disaster recovery facility. The AS/400 processors at the AWD Data Center and the AS/400 processors at Winchester provide contingency plan capabilities for each other's processing needs. The Company regularly tests the disaster recovery processes for both data centers.

Argus Health Systems, Inc. ("Argus")

Argus is a 50% owned joint venture of the Company and a privately held life insurance holding company. Argus provides claims processing, information services and administrative support for pharmacy program management. These services include reporting features, reimbursements, call center, pharmacy network management, clinical information services and rebates. Argus' proprietary claims processing system, Integrated Pharmacy Network System ("IPNS"), is an interactive, database managed processing system for administration of prescription drug claims, pharmacy and member reimbursement and drug utilization review. IPNS, which provides substantial flexibility to accommodate varying provider requirements, allows point-of-sale monitoring and control of pharmacy plan benefits with

14



on-line benefit authorization and can alert dispensing pharmacists to potential medication problems arising from such factors as duplicate prescriptions, incorrect dosage and drug interactions.

The Company provides data processing, telecommunications and output solutions services to Argus and Argus operates IPNS at Winchester and the AWD Data Center. Its primary clients are providers of pharmacy benefit plans including insurance companies, health maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations and other pharmacy benefit managers.

Wall Street Access L.L.C. ("Wall Street Access")

Wall Street Access is a provider of online brokerage services to individual traders and professional money managers. The Company acquired a 6% interest in Wall Street Access in January 2001 for approximately $7 million. The securities purchase agreement with Wall Street Access contains put/call provisions whereby the Company's interest in Wall Street Access may be increased to 20% for approximately $16.0 million.

Customer Concentration

The Financial Services Segment's five largest customers accounted for 26.5% of segment revenues in 2001, including 10.4% from its largest customer.

Marketing / Distribution

In the U.S., Canada and select international markets, the Financial Services Segment identifies potential users of its products and services and tailors its marketing programs to focus on their needs. The Segment's marketing efforts also include cross-selling the Company's wide range of services and products to its existing clients. The Segment's sales efforts are closely coordinated with its joint venture and strategic alliance partners.

Sources of new business for the Segment include (i) existing clients, particularly with respect to complementary and new services and products; (ii) companies relying on their own in-house capabilities and not using outside vendors; (iii) companies using competitors' systems; and (iv) new entrants into the markets served by the Company. The Company considers its existing client base to be one of its best sources of new business.

The Company's mutual fund systems and related services and products are marketed to mutual fund management firms and to distributors of mutual fund shares, such as banks, insurance companies, brokerage firms and third party administration firms. Increasingly, such firms manage multiple mutual fund products to address different investment objectives. Generally, mutual fund products are promoted and distributed in fund groups which provide investors with a variety of mutual fund investments and the ability to exchange investments from one fund to another within the group. This often means that a single service agent, such as the Company, is used for all funds in the group.

The Company's corporate securities processing services and products are marketed to corporate secretaries and investor relation personnel of publicly trade companies, management firms and distributors of closed end mutual funds and mutual insurance companies considering demutualization transactions. The Company maintains a sales and marketing staff, including client services and technical support teams to target these markets.

DST International markets its investment management and portfolio accounting software and services directly to medium and large investment management firms. Generally, DST International's customers are seeking a turnkey system for investment accounting that can meet their requirements with a minimum amount of customization. Each of DST International's offices has a dedicated sales force and a team of consultants that can sell, install and implement these products.

15



Competition

The Company believes that competition in the markets in which the Financial Services Segment operates is based largely on quality of service, features offered, the ability to handle rapidly changing transaction volumes, commitment to processing capacity and software development and price. The Company believes there is significant existing competition in its markets. The Company's ability to compete effectively is dependent on the availability of capital. Some of the Company's competitors have greater resources and greater access to capital than the Company and its affiliates.

The Company's shareowner accounting systems compete not only with third-party providers but also with in-house systems and brokerage firms that perform subaccounting services for the brokerage firms' customers that purchase or sell shares of mutual funds of the Company's clients. Financial institutions competing with the Company may have an advantage because they can take into consideration the value of their clients' funds on deposit in pricing their services. The Company believes its most significant competitors for third party shareowner accounting systems are PFPC, Inc. and SunGard Data Systems, Inc.

The Company's corporate securities services and products compete with other third party providers and companies who perform their services in-house with licensed or internally developed systems. Financial institutions competing with the Company may have an advantage because they can take into consideration the value of their clients' funds on deposit in pricing their services. The Company believes its most significant competitors for corporate securities processing services are Mellon Bank, Bank of New York, Computer Share, Inc., American Stock Transfer and SunGard Data Systems, Inc.

The Company has significant competition with its investment management systems. Principal competitors are bundled service providers, third-party software service providers and those companies that license their products. Competitive factors are the accuracy and timeliness of processed information provided to customers, features and adaptability of the software, level and quality of customer support, level of software development expertise and price. The Company believes that it competes effectively in the market by its ongoing investment in its products and the development of new products to meet the needs of the portfolio accountants and investment managers. The Company believes its most significant competitors for investment management systems are SunGard Data Systems, Inc., State Street Corporation (including Princeton Financial Systems, Inc.), Misys plc, SS&C Technologies, Inc., Advent Software, Inc. and Datastream Systems, Inc.

The Company's automated workflow system competes with other data processing and financial software vendors. Competitive factors include features and adaptability of the software, level and quality of customer support, level of software development expertise and price. The Company believes that it can compete effectively in those markets the Company chooses to pursue. The Company believes its most significant competitors for automated workflow systems are Filenet Corporation, International Business Machines Corporation ("IBM"), Siebel Systems, Inc. and Staffware plc.

16




OUTPUT SOLUTIONS SEGMENT

The Output Solutions Segment is an industry-leading provider of integrated print and electronic communications solutions that enable leading businesses to create lasting, profitable one-to-one relationships with their customers. The customized bill and statement processing services and electronic bill payment and presentment solutions offered establish this group as a preferred service supplier to the financial services industry, the telecommunications industry, as well as other industries which value customer communications and require high quality, accurate and timely bill and statement processing. The Company also offers a variety of complementary professional services, including consulting, application development, fulfillment and client training, as well as statement design and formatting services that allow clients to enrich their customer relationships through the use of statements as personalized communication and marketing tools.

The Company is among the largest first class mailers in the U.S., mailing 1.9 billion items in 2001. Sources of revenue by major industry served are listed below.

 
  Year Ended December 31,
 
  2001
  2000
  1999
Output Solutions Operating Data                  
Revenues (in millions)                  
U.S. revenues                  
  Mutual fund/investment management   $ 153.2   $ 134.7   $ 129.2
  Corporate securities processing     8.4     5.9     9.4
  Other financial services     97.5     95.7     79.2
  Video/broadband/satellite TV     73.6     68.3     60.1
  Telecommunications and utilities     165.7     161.5     148.4
  Other     98.1     110.9     71.3
   
 
 
      596.5     577.0     497.6
   
 
 
International revenues                  
  Mutual fund/investment management     0.8     1.3     1.2
  Other financial services     3.0     4.7     5.5
  Telecommunications and utilities     0.8     1.3     1.4
  Other     10.6     7.9     6.5
   
 
 
      15.2     15.2     14.6
   
 
 
    $ 611.7   $ 592.2   $ 512.2
   
 
 
Images produced (billions)     8.2     7.4     6.3
Items mailed (billions)     1.9     1.9     1.7

Statement and Billing Services

Statement and billing services and solutions are provided in fully integrated and automated production environments that rapidly and cost-effectively transform electronic data into informative, accurate and customized statements. The Company's highly automated production environment allows clients to maximize postal savings while minimizing delivery time.

For the financial services industry, the Company performs electronic printing, variable and selective insertion, presorted mailing and distribution of custom designed shareowner and other account based communications, including transaction confirmations, dividend checks, account statements and year-end tax reports. The Company offers its clients the capability for personalizing their customer communications.

17



The Company provides both print and electronic bill and statement processing and presentment solutions to the video/broadband/satellite TV, telecommunications, utilities, transportation, rapid delivery, credit card and other service industries.

Addressing the needs of multi-service providers, the Company also offers consolidated statements which combine data from multiple services and funds into a single integrated statement, which can offer clients significant savings both in paper and mailing costs and can also be a marketing tool for companies seeking to establish brand name recognition and sell combined services. The Company's highly evolved electronic solutions offer even more savings to those clients who are promoting greater use of Internet based bills and statements with their customers.

The Company derives revenues from its bill and statement processing services based generally on the number of images processed and the range of customization and personalization options chosen by the clients.

Direct Access, the Company's proprietary Web-based program, enables the Company's billing customers to have near real-time monitoring and reporting functions. Using standard Internet browsers and entry through secured access to the Company's extranet, customers can monitor their job information from the moment of completed data stream transmission to the moment the data leaves the Company's facilities, thus providing the power to view every step of the process remotely. This capability is being made available to all customers and will serve as the future portal through which clients will access from their desktops the job management tools and campaign development being made available.

The Company's automated information and technology infrastructure, which electronically prepares and monitors the statement until final printing, provides the basis for the Company's electronic statement presentment and payment products and services. The Company believes that as electronic statements and payment solutions become more accepted, communications service providers, utilities, financial services as well as many other companies with high volume regular communications with their customers will require electronic statement and bill presentment solutions. The e.bill.anywhere product is designed for electronic bill presentment and payment; Informa is intended for online electronic presentment of mutual fund and brokerage statements, confirmations and tax documents; and e-Proxy is designed for online electronic balloting.

Key marketing alliances have been established with industry leading companies to extend the reach and value of the company's electronic solutions. Because of its industry leading volumes, state-of-the-art processing systems and client relationships, the Company believes it is in the unique position of being a one-stop, full-service supplier of fully integrated print and electronic customer communications that enable its clients to build lasting and profitable one-to-one relationships with their customers.

The Company offers a full range of technical support for its clients. Customized programming tools have been developed that allow electronic information streams from a variety of client systems to be received without the need to make changes to the customer's software. These tools enable rapid and smooth transitions when clients outsource their statement processing and electronic functions.

Revenues from electronic statement and payment solutions are generated from initial implementation fees and recurring revenue based on the number of statements viewed or transactions processed. These revenues are influenced by both new account acquisitions and customer adoption rates.

Communications Management

Rapid Confirm

For the brokerage industry, the Company offers Rapid Confirm, one of the fastest ways to deliver trade confirmations. Utilizing a large domestic distributive print network, Rapid Confirm provides speed of delivery through the United States Postal Service. The Company also offers electronic delivery of trade

18



confirmations over the Internet. With distributive print-mail sites strategically located throughout the U.S., 90% of the Segment's mail is delivered in two days or less