Chase Manhattan has claimed two major custody victories in recent UK pension fund reviews.

The Coal Pension Schemes, with around 500,000 former employees of British Coal, have chosen Chase to provide global custody for their £22bn in assets, extending their present custody for the fund overseas.

David Morgan, chief executive of CMT pension trustee services, which administers the scheme, says Chase was selected as it best suited the changing requirements of the scheme. Chase's Bournemouth operations centre and provision of accounting services were key areas of expertise appreciated by the trustees."

Watson Wyatt advised the trustees during the review, assisted by Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Chase has also won the global custody mandate for the £4.7bn securities portfolio of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund.

Steven Taylor, principal investments officer at the fund says: "We looked at the three key issues of maximising asset safety, service quality and value for money, and Chase came out number one for this combination." Taylor added that Chase will provide standard custody service when it commences this month, with value-added services to be reviewed at a later date. The fund's custody arrangements were previously provided by Lloyds."