Boston Financial Data Services, which has a service center in Lawrence, is laying off some of its employees, the company confirmed Tuesday.

Boston Financial — a joint venture of DST Systems Inc., based in Kansas City, Mo., and State Street Corp., based in Boston — is a private company that serves as a third-party transfer agent serving the mutual fund industry.

In Lawrence, the center’s employees provide transfer agency services for mutual fund clients and assist shareowners on behalf of mutual fund companies. The center is at 2000 Bluffs Drive, northeast of the intersection of Sixth and Iowa streets.

Employees were told Tuesday that the layoffs affected 100 people companywide, including nine in Lawrence.

Ann Marie Mierzykowski, a Boston Financial spokeswoman, noted that the company had been a leader in providing investor and intermediary services for more than 35 years.

“We are taking immediate expense reductions fundamental in this market environment, including a reduction in force,” she said in a statement late Tuesday afternoon. “We are and will continue to ensure we operate with the right number of resources to optimize our service levels with our clients.”

Calls to officials at State Street and DST Systems were not returned Tuesday.

In December 2007, Boston Financial reported having 241 employees in Lawrence: 133 full-time and 108 part-time. That was up from 233 — 146 full-time and 87 part-time — a year earlier, a total that had been unchanged from 2005.