Northern Trust Wins West London Pension Fund Mandate

Northern Trust will serve as the global custodian for two West London-boroughs that hold £1.9 billion in pension fund assets.

The bank was appointed by Westminster City Council and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to provide global custody and investment accounting services. The mandate means Northern Trust is now the global custodian for the tri-boroughs of West London, after being appointed as the custodian for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in 2009.

The previous global custodian for the Westminster fund was Bank of New York Mellon.

The appointment of Northern Trust is the latest development under the National Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), which was introduced last year to streamline the process for local government pension schemes selecting a global custody provider.

Under the terms of the new mandate, the tree councils of West London will be supported under a single specialist team at Northern Trust, the bank states.

“This is a pivotal time for local government pension schemes, whose members are increasingly looking to become more efficient and cost effective,” says Penelope Biggs, head if institutional investor group, EMEA, Northern Trust.

The win marks the fourth and fifth appointment of Northern Trust under LGPS, after Devon County Council £3 billion pension fund selected the bank to provide global custody and securities lending in September.

It now acts as the custodian to 37% of the total LGPS market in the UK.