NETHERLANDS - Bpf Meubel, the €1.5bn pension fund for the furnishings industry, has appointed ABN AMRO Mellon Global Securities Services as global custodian of its assets.

This mandate comprises services for investment accounting, Dutch regulatory reporting, online information delivery, performance measurement, attribution, analytics, compliance monitoring and securities lending, ABN Amro Mellon said.

"Bpf Meubel has chosen ABN AMRO Mellon because of the scope of its operations in the Netherlands, the breadth and depth of its team's knowledge of the pensions industry and its class-leading capabilities," its secretary,  Harry Nieuwenhuis, said.

At the same time, Nieuwenhuis said his scheme expects to appoint a fiduciary manager within the next six months. Most of Bpf Meubel's assets are currently managed by F&C, he pointed out.

The scheme's pension administration is carried out by PVF Achmea but there are no plans to change this, the secretary indicated.

ABN AMRO Mellon's selection as asset servicing provider was overseen by consultants Goris & Partners.

Bpf Meubel last year returned 8.1% on investments and its coverage ratio was 138% at the end of 2006.

The pension fund has 20,445 active participants, employed by 2,616 affiliated companies. It has 79,500 deferred members and 15,635 pensioners.

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