Another major NZ Crown Financial Institution custody gig is up for grabs following the appointment earlier this year of JP Morgan to the $30 billion plus Accident Compensation Commission (ACC) fund.
While JP Morgan was previously shared custody with Northern Trust at ACC, this time around it is sole incumbent at the open-for-tender dual custodial role at the Government Superannuation Fund (GSF) and National Provident Fund (NPF) – both managed by Crown-owned entity Annuitas.
Collectively, the two funds, which service a number of now-closed government-guaranteed pension schemes, manage about $6 billion with the GSF owning the lion’s share of about $4 billion.
Simon Tyler, Annuitas chief executive, said “several custodians have been asked to provide full-service proposals”.
Tyler said the custody tender was the result of due government process.
“All Crown entities are required to review significant service provider contracts every five years,” he said. “We see [the custody review] as best practice.”
Tyler said given the largely “stable, non-changing nature” of the Annuitas-managed funds, the organisation wasn’t facing any newly-challenging custody demands.
“But the custodial world has seen a lot of changes over the last few years,” he said.
According to Tyler, Annuitas would review all tenders over the coming months with a final decision expected in the second quarter of next year.