State Street Global Markets, the investment research and trading arm of State Street Corporation, has completed a €1.4 billion portfolio transition for a portion of the Volkswagen pension fund in Germany. State Street has been providing custody and accounting services for Volkswagen since 1997.
Due to a recent change to Volkswagen’s asset allocation and asset management strategies, State Street’s transition management team successfully completed the transition which involved a complex move to a masterfund and a simultaneous multi-asset class restructuring of the portfolio with the appointment of a number of specialist managers, including an overlay mandate.
“With the increased scrutiny on trading costs, pension funds continue to recognize the value that an experienced transition manager can bring to the investment process,” said Lachlan French, head of transition management for State Street in Europe.
“State Street worked together with us to understand the complex facets involved in our portfolio restructuring,” said Albrecht Mhle, board member of Volkswagen Pension Trust e.V. “We were pleased with the seamless transition of our fund.”