Citi is targeting pension fund management companies in Mexico following new regulations allowing those companies to use specialist agents for securities services. The banks Banco Nacional de Mxico (Banamex) unit has expanded global custody and fund administration services to pension fund management companies (Afores) in the country.
Its first client, Afore Banamex, will access Citi OpenInvestor to provide global custody and administration for its new international asset management mandates. Afore Banamex, the sub ranks as the leading pension fund management company in Mexico, with more than eight million clients and over $23 billion in assets under management.
After a rigorous and independent review of available providers, we selected Citi OpenInvestor because it offered a single service platform that integrates our local requirements in Mexico with the ability to address global manager needs, said Luis Sayeg CEO at Afore Banamex. We are pleased to be the first Afore to take advantage of new regulations to use specialist agents to help increase the diversification of our portfolio and optimize returns for our investors. We believe we have the best risk and investment teams in Mexico, and now we can access more broadly into the capabilities of firms that have expertise in many more markets.
“As Afores continue to diversify and develop more sophisticated asset selection, asset management and risk monitoring, were leveraging our global platform to deliver a complete range of administration and accounting capabilities in Mexico,” said Alejandro Berney, head of Latin America, Securities and Fund Services, Citi.
Citi acquired Banamex in 2001 in one of the largest-ever US-Mexico corporate mergers.
(JDC)