NETHERLANDS - The €5.1bn Stichting Pensioenfonds Hoogovens, the pension fund of steelmaker Corus Netherlands, has named ABN Amro Mellon Global Securities Services as its new global custodian.

The previous custodian was Citigroup, which came under review as Hoogovens was looking for a provider who could meet their "complex service requirements" a spokesman said.

ABN Amro Mellon will provide a "bundled solution" including global custody, investment accounting, regulatory reporting securities lending, cash management, and FX and full-trade confirmation as well as data warehousing, the firm said.

"It was not a case of Hoogovens being dissatisfied with Citi," the spokesman stressed. The US bank was even short-listed in the review process.

Hoogovens' chief financial officer Harry Lensen explained that following a six-month review of three global custodians on the fund's short-list, ABN Amro Mellon won the race "for their ability to manage all of our service requirements".

The data warehouse solution played an important role in the fund's decision, Lensen added.

It "enables Hoogovens to be fully flexible in its strategy, while keeping abreast of the rapidly changing regulatory and fiduciary environment we face in the Netherlands," Suzanne van der Linden, project manager at Hoogovens said.

"This is the first time in the Netherlands that a mandate has incorporated a complete data warehouse solution," ABN Amro Mellon said.