IRELAND- Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has appointed ABN Amro Mellon as global custodian to the e8bn National Pensions Reserve Fund.

ABN Amro Mellon will be responsible for basic custody including settlement and collecting dividends and interest payments. A spokesman at ABN Amro Mellon says the bank will also be providing securities lending, cash management and performance measurement and analytics for the fund.

ABN Amro Mellon’s core markets are the Netherlands and the UK and it is not known for its stable of Irish clients. Elsewhere in Ireland it provides custody for the e670m An Post pension fund.

Under the same announcement, Morgan Stanley International has been named transition manager for the fund. This is a short term assignment to oversee the transfer of e8bn in cash to the individual managers’ pre-specified portfolios.

To date the NTMA has appointed Capital International, Dresdner RCM Global Investors, Bank of Ireland AM, Blackrock International, Putnam Investment, Barclays Global Investors and State Street global Advisors to manage a total of e6bn between them.