UK – HSBC Securities Services has been awarded a £21bn (€30.6bn) custody mandate by Legal & General to manage its Eurobond portfolio.

Until now, L&G together with an unnamed “local agent” have managed these assets directly.

A statement from L&G said it made a “strategic decision” to consolidate its fixed income provision with HSBC, which is the insurer’s major global custodian for fixed income securities and UK equities.

Director of operations for L&G Investment Management Keith Bewsey stated: “We had been looking at consolidating this activity into a professional custodian for some time, in order to take advantage of economies of scale in pricing and overhead costs.”

Commenting on the mandate, HSBC Securities Services head of business development for Europe Paul Stillabower said, “This new business win shows that the largest UK financial houses continue to move away from direct relationships with markets, towards specialised financial services providers for both custody and fund administration.”

HSBC Securities Services had roughly €2.5tn in assets under custody as at 30 December 2005.

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