Fund administration business spur positive SGSS revenues

Assets under administration jumped 8.1% in 2017, while assets under custody slightly declined.
By Joe Parsons

Societe Generale Securities Services (SGSS) reported revenues of €693 million in 2017, an increase of 5% year-on-year, following a rise in fund administration assets.

Assets under administration jumped 8.1% to reach €651 billion by the end of the year, while assets under custody slightly declined by 1.3% to €3.9 trillion.

SGSS revenues in the fourth quarter were up 4.7% and posted an increase in commissions as a result of “substantial commercial success, particularly on the fund distribution activity,” Societe Generale stated in its quarterly earnings.

Meanwhile prime services income totalled €641 million in 2017, up 3.2% from 2016, in which “the business continued to proactively develop its franchises and grow its client base.”

One of SGSS’s most significant deals for 2017 was its custody and fund administration renewal with UniCredit, Italy’s largest bank, until 2026.  

Bruno Prigent, global head of Societe Generale Securities Services, said at the time of the deal: “The deal underlines SGSS’s commitment to help its customers navigate in a financial environment undergoing changes and provide them with high quality services.”

Most recently, SGSS also renewed a €9 billion custody and trustee services mandate with Inarcassa, Italy’s national social assistance fund for self-employed engineers and architects.

The positive results follows that of its close rival BNP Paribas Securities Services, which reported earlier this week an increase of 7% in revenues to almost €2 billion.

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