J.P. Morgan has been awarded a mandate to provide custody and related services to Amonis OFP, the largest pension fund for health care workers in Belgium.
Founded in 1967, Amonis is the pension scheme for Belgian doctors, dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists and other practitioners in the medical sector.
Amonis has around 1 billion EUR ($1.5 billion) assets under management for some 25,000 active members and 1,300 pensioners. Amonis is the second largest Belgian Pension scheme in terms of AUM and operates through a staff of 35 professionals.
J.P. Morgan was selected following a review conducted by Amonis with the support of Thomas Murray, the specialist pension fund advisory firm.
Hugo Lasat, CEO of Amonis, said: The pension fund industry is evolving rapidly and we have found a partner that can support Amonis in its development via a long lasting relationship. Custody has become a commodity but the additional services J.P. Morgan is offering are essential building blocks for the management and evolution of our pension scheme and offer substantial value.
Lasat added: The change of custodian has been implemented in record time and we are very satisfied with the final result and set-up. The implementation came at a challenging time as Amonis was managing the fall out of the financial crisis. Against this backdrop we are pleased to report a significant double digit growth in pension capital during 2009.
Lasat also said: Amonis moved to a new asset allocation structure based on two major building blocks: an Income Portfolio based on the pension funds expected cash flows and a Growth portfolio that delivers a superior investment return. Amonis also strengthened its internal governance and organisational structure.
Benjie Fraser, Head of Business Development and Relationship Management for J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services’ pension fund business in Europe, said: We are delighted to support the Amonis pension fund as we continue to expand our work with pension funds across Europe. We are pleased to be able to support Amoniss specific requirements in the Belgian market as part of this strategy.
John Gout, Head of Business Development and Relationship Management for Benelux at J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Service, said: We are delighted to be appointed by Amonis as it shows our local commitment and dedication to work with institutional investors as part of our overall strategy to offer firm-wide solutions in the region and Belgium in particular.