State Street announced today that it has been selected to provide a full range of investment services to The Pension Fund For State Employees in Iceland (Lifeyrissjodur Starfsmanna Rikisins -“LSR”), which has $1.4 billion in assets.
State Street will provide global custody and accounting services for two newly-developed global equity funds of The Pension Fund For State Employees. The Pension Fund For State Employees is the largest pension fund in Iceland with 28,000 members. Doubling in assets every five years, LSR is a rapidly growing fund with a widespread international allocation.
“We are delighted to partner with LSR, Iceland’s largest and most sophisticated pension fund,” says Jeff Conway, head of State Street’s investment services business in the U.K., Northern Europe and the Middle East. “This mandate demonstrates the value of State Street’s ability to provide flexible, innovative investment services that major European government pension funds need to solve their increasingly complex asset servicing challenges. As European corporations continue to recognize the benefits of defined contribution pension funds and existing pension funds increase their exposure to global markets, we expect to continue to leverage our unparalleled servicing experience and capabilities to become Europe’s investment servicing partner of choice.”
“As we launch two new funds and increase our exposure to global markets, we decided to streamline our operations and improve efficiencies,” said Albert Jnsson, Chief Investment Officer of The Pension Fund For State Employees. “We selected State Street as they are the clear market leader in multinational asset servicing with a strong track record of providing the highest quality service. We were also impressed with their team and commitment to this marketplace.”
State Street says it now services or manages money for many of Europe’s largest and most sophisticated pension funds and collective investment funds, including ABP, AP2, Philips Pension fund, Scottish Widows, Siemens, and Volkswagen AG.