BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNP PSS) bade farewell to its head of transition management last Friday, but good news came in the form of a master custody contract for a $1.2 billion NZ client.

Melanie O’Rourke starts this week as a co-director of investment operations at the $12 billion WorkCover NSW investment division, which recently switched its backoffice contracts from BNP PSS to State Street Investor Services. The other co-director at the Workcover division, Steve Ingham, said O’Rourke had worked extensively with his team on mandate transitions in her former capacity at BNP PSS. O’Rourke is joining Workcover on a full-time but contractual basis, covering for Ruwanie Dias who has just gone on maternity leave. A BNP PSS spokesperson said O’Rourke’s responsibilities would be covered by group head of fund administration, Caroline Marull, while a replacement for O’Rourke was sought. In better news for the custodian, it has been selected as the first ever custodian for the $1.2 billion Mercer Super Trust in New Zealand, after a tender and due diligence process. BNP PSS’ NZ head, Hugh Stevens, said the custodian had “;invested heavily”; to support the country’s new ‘portfolio investment entity’ and ‘KiwiSaver’ regimes.