BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNP PSS) has been successful in two recent master custody tenders.
The $1.5 billion Aon Master Trust began using BNP PSS at the start of the financial year, after an internally-run tender preferred it to ANZ Custodian Services. Meanwhile, the $500 million Health Industry Plan (HIP) recently selected BNP PSS as its first master custodian for many years, following a JANA-led review in which National Custodian Services was shortlisted. HIP’s previous relationship with State Street Investor Services fell apart over pricing, shortly before the Boston-based firm exited the master custody game in 2000 (only to return last year). HIP has been restricted to pooled investments and reliant on internal custodianship in the years since, however fund secretary Ross Bernays said the fund’s growth and proactive investment strategy would probably see it require discrete mandates soon. BNP PSS began providing custody and performance analytics services to HIP in early November. Bernays said a measure of the depth and sophistication of Australia’s master custody market today was that BNP PSS’ fee would be about half what State Street had proposed charging before that relationship broke down at the turn of the century.
The $355 billion AustralianSuper has acquired a $1.4 billion European industrial and logistics portfolio, owned by OMERS real estate subsidiary Oxford Properties. The nation’s biggest fund is targeting a $7.5 billion valuation for the venture and $35 billion allocation in European and UK region before 2030, supported by its biggest international office in London with 121 employees.
Darcy SongJanuary 14, 2025
