ABN AMRO Mellon Global Securities Services B.V. has been appointed as global custodian for assets valued at EUR 1 billion by Bedrijfspensioenfonds voor de Koopvaardij (Merchant Navy Pension Fund).
The Merchant Navy Pension Fund, which serves the retirement needs of the Dutch shipping industry, expressed interest in moving its discretionary portfolio to ABN AMRO Mellon in November 2006.
ABN AMRO Mellon’s appointment was confirmed earlier this year, and in the past week the final tranche of assets valued at just over EUR 1 billion was successfully transitioned from the Pension Fund’s previous provider. The Pension Fund’s remaining assets valued at EUR 2.4 billion are invested in real estate, mortgage and pooled funds with F&C, which had a role in originally introducing the Merchant Navy Pension Fund to the ABN AMRO Mellon team.
“I am delighted that the Merchant Navy Pension Fund has selected us as their custodian, and we will be working closely with them to ensure they are fully equipped to deal with ongoing regulatory and legislative developments in the Dutch market,” says Nadine Chakar, CEO of ABN AMRO Mellon. “As our ‘home’ market, the Netherlands is absolutely central to our plans going forward.”