NETHERLANDS - The €70bn pension provider and asset manager MN Services has improved its framework for risk control, allowing it to issue a full statement on all strategic, tactical and operational risks, according to its annual report for 2010.

MN Services said it had also improved its view on the risks of complex and illiquid investments in particular.

In the wake of the financial crisis, the service provider established an independently positioned department for corporate risk management, monitoring risk control, investment risk management and operational risk management within asset management.

Within pensions and services, the new risk management department is focusing IT risk, operational risk management and security.

MN Services also said it has concentrated on separating asset management and fiduciary management, and further shaped it dynamic investment policy.

To enable its clients to take assume more responsibility, it has increased the transparency of management information through newly designed investment plans, dedicated fund plans and client teams, as well as improved reporting.

MN Services is the provider for the large metal schemes PMT and PME, which have assets of €38bn and €23bn, respectively. It provides services to almost 2m participants and 36,000 employers.

The provider has also improved its risk insurance activities, in anticipation of its plan to offer life insurance in the near future.

It said that it had contributed an additional €5m to its own pension fund, allowing it to meet its minimum required coverage ratio of 105%.

Last year, MN Services secured €1.4bn of fiduciary mandates for six pension funds in the UK.

Because the UK market is the "largest and probably the most dynamic in Europe", it offers "excellent opportunities for sustainable growth", it said.

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