German bank Berenberg and Lurse Deutsche Pensions Treuhand, the subsidiary of consultancy Lurse responsible for managing contractual trust arrangements (CTAs), have signed a strategic cooperation to create a provider of outsourced chief investment office (OCIO) solutions, Berenberg announced today.

Berenberg and Lurse are merging their respective company pension solutions to create the specialised OCIO provider for asset allocation of company pension schemes, the bank added in the statement.

The partners are currently in the midst of the first joint onboarding processes with pension investors, Berenberg said.

Berenberg’s investment consulting division, led by head of investment consulting and institutional consulting Michael Kreibich, and Lurse Deutsche Pensions Treuhand, led by Stefan Birkel, will work together to manage, implement and develop investment strategies for occupational pension investors in Germany.

Berenberg will contribute to the strategic partnership with its know-how to design investment strategies for pension investors within the framework of strategic asset allocation (SAA) and asset liability management (ALM), and their implementation through asset management, while Lurse will focus on the administration of CTAs.

Lurse Deutsche Pensions Treuhand has its own multi-company trusts, and at the same time manages external corporate and group CTA trustees offering outsourcing solutions, company pension management, actuarial and investment services.

CTAs are widespread trust structures in Germany, also among mid-sized firms, used to internally finance pension obligations.

CTAs are set up to secure pension claims in the event of the insolvency of a sponsoring company, separate and provide funding to payout pension benefits. Accounting policy considerations often also motivate a company to set up a CTA, and provide funds for occupational pensions.

“The trend of outsourcing the management of the entire capital investment [process] to an external OCIO provider has increased significantly among German occupational pension investors over the past few years,” Kreibich said.

“The cooperation [with Berenberg] will enable Lurse’s clients to access this technology as well as Berenberg’s expertise to create strategic asset allocations and ALM studies,” Birkel said.

The latest digital edition of IPE’s magazine is now available

Luigi is IPE's Berlin-based DACH correspondent. His coverage includes regulation and the latest pensions and investments trends, and, being a native Italian, he also covers Italy’s pensions market. He has reported from Italy and Germany on international politics and business for European and US publications including USA Today, Bloomberg BNA and for the investigative magazine L’Espresso. He was previously Germany correspondent for Mergermarket covering M&A.View full Profile

More from Luigi Serenelli

Topics