UK- The newly-created UK pension fund for TotalFinaElf has appointed Northern Trust as global custodian to its assets of £1bn. Northern Trust was appointed by the trustees of the newly created plan, which was forged from the merger of thirteen schemes within TotalFinaElf in the UK.

Lester Farrant, manager of the new TotalFinaElf UK pension plan, said: “following the mergers of Total with Fina in 2000 and subsequently with Elf in 2001, we have now consolidated the defined benefit pension arrangements for the UK staff into a single plan.

“Bringing the custody arrangements for the plan’s assets together under the management of a single global provider was a logical step.”

Northern Trust had had custody of the Elf Exploration UK Pension Plan assets since 1989. Northern Trust provides global custody and related services, on-line services via Global Investor Passport, short-term cash management, and risk and performance services.

As of the end of September, Northern Trust had £930bn in assets under custody and £190 billion in assets under management.