BNP Paribas Securities Services has won a new mandate from Edgewood L Select, a Luxembourg-domiciled UCITS fund, to provide global custody, fund administration, transfer agency and corporate domiciliation.
Edgewood employs a large-cap growth investment strategy. The fund had $730 million already in custody at BNP Paribas as of Sept. 20 2012. Subsequent to the shareholder approval of the merger of Edgewood Management funds into Edgewood L Select, the total assets held at BNP Paribas will be $915m as at Oct. 5 2012.
Alexander Farman-Farmaian, chairman of Edgewood said: We aim to deliver sustainable long-term performance by investing in high-quality growth companies, primarily based in the United States.
As one of the largest administrators of UCITS funds with a heritage in strong client service, BNP Paribas was the stand-out contender, added Farman-Farmaian.
The news follows a series of significant developments for BNP Paribas custody business in North America. As well as Claudine Gallaghers appointment as regional manager, North America, the bank also announced that it would roll-out local and global custody services in the United States over the next 12 months.
Across the Atlantic, BNP Paribas has been selected by Middlesbrough Council in the UK to provide global custody, monthly valuation and foreign exchange services to the Teesside Pension Fund (Teesside). Teesside is a local government occupational pension scheme with 2.5 billion in assets including UK and global equities, bonds and direct property. The fund is managed in-house by Middlesbrough Councils portfolio investment team.
Paul Campbell, head of investments at the Teesside Pension Fund, said: We reviewed several custodians operating in the UK and found BNP Paribas to be the best fit based on our selection criteria. We were very impressed with their team, including their on-the-ground operations staff, and look forward to working with them.
Moving to the East, State Street has been appointed by UTI International (Singapore) to provide fund administration and custody services for their flagship Indian invested UCITS umbrella. UTI International (Singapore), a company regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, manages $2.6 billion in assets and is a subsidiary of UTI AMC, Indias oldest asset manager.
Praveen Jagwani, CEO of UTI International Singapore and investment manager to the funds said, “Our decision to appoint State Street as the service provider for the UTI UCITS umbrella was driven by their global footprint, Asian focus and reputation as a client focused institution. I think State Street has the requisite scale and expertise to strengthen the value proposition of UTIs UCITS fund range.
(JDC)