Citi has been selected as the third-party securities lending service provider for Hartford Funds mutual funds.
The US bank will oversee lending activities for funds with approximately $108 billion in assets, as of the end of 2017.
“We are delighted that Hartford Funds has selected Citi to provide third party securities lending services to its mutual funds,” said David Martocci, global head of agency securities lending, Citi.
“This partnership demonstrates Citi’s ability to differentiate its product offering and serve the needs of a leading investment manager.”
The mandate win is a significant boost to Citi’s agency lending team, after it saw the departure of Jeff Bonaldi, its former head of securities lending, collateral management and cash management sales for Americas.
Citi’s securities lending business this year has been a key focus for the bank this year, after it announced it would accept exchange traded funds (ETF) as collateral in agency lending transactions
It said it will use Markit’s IHS collateral lists to identify eligible ETF instruments in both equity and fixed income markets.