On the 16th floor of Perpetual’s Sydney headquarters there are about a dozen people seeking to find ways to produce “further meaningful cost reductions” at the trustee and asset manager, says a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The cost reduction team, made up of about six people each from Bain & Company and Perpetual, have their own room at Perpetual’s Pitt Street office, says the person. Bain has been hired to help Perpetual cut costs.

They have until the middle of the year to highlight areas where Perpetual can cut expenses. A cost reduction plan for the company is to be implemented almost as soon as the group finishes its work.

Geoff Lloyd, Perpetual’s chief executive, has made trimming costs a focus since he was promoted to the job last month after the firing of Chris Ryan. Lloyd has asked for tenders from outside companies interested in managing Perpetual’s software and hardware needs.

Lloyd has been careful to give no indication as to whether the company plans to reduce the number of its employees.