NETHERLANDS – Citibank has lost out on a €13bn pooled assets mandate with F&C Netherlands – the mandate was awarded to ABN Amro Mellon following a market survey by the asset manager.

ABN Amro Mellon - in a “very strong partnership” with F&C since 1998 – will provide global custody, foreign exchange and cash management services. It will also manage F&C’s Euroclear stock lending programme.

Citibank’s contract was up for renewal when F&C decided to do its survey. It was awarded the pooled assets mandate more than five years ago.

“We wanted to see where we felt the custody for these pooled assets could best be placed,” said F&C Netherlands director and country head Henk Breukink.

“We did a brief survey of the market, and felt ABN Amro Mellon was a good party. We were also already working with them.”

Breukink told IPE the survey involved looking at between four to five custody heavyweights, which he labelled “the usual suspects”. No names were given, however. The survey and selection process were all done in-house.

“Interestingly enough, some of our customers who participate in the pool felt more comfortable about a custodian which had a base in the Netherlands,” explained Breukink.

“There is a bit of sentiment there,” he added.

In December 2005, ABN Amro Mellon was appointed by F&C Netherlands to manage client and fund administration activities for its 181 institutional clients in the Netherlands.

The mandate involved the permanent transfer of 22 F&C Netherlands staff (professional client and fund administrators) to ABN Amro Mellon’s Amsterdam office. The move enabled F&C Netherlands to focus entirely on its asset management activities.

Elsewhere, AXA Investment Managers has outsourced an additional €20bn to State Street. It builds on a €300bn deal first announced in 2004.
AXA said it has appointed the Boston-based bank to “provide investment servicing for the company’s entire Luxembourg and Dublin-based fund ranges comprising nearly 70 sub-funds and almost 300 share classes”.

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