SWEDEN - Fjärde AP-fonden, the Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund or AP4, has awarded a SEK138bn (€14.7bn) sole custody mandate to Northern Trust, resulting in a loss for multi-year incumbent State Street.

Chicago-based Northern said in a release that it has been selected by AP4 as sole global custodian for the fund’s assets, both domestic and foreign.

“Northern Trust will provide a range of custody and related services to AP4,” it said.

A State Street spokesman said the bank was disappointed at losing business it had had for a number of years. He added that it has had a number of wins recently, such as the Pension Protection Fund in the UK.

“Working with Thomas Murray, the custody advisers, we conducted an extensive review of global custodians and local banks in the market and believe we have found a long term ‘partner’ in Northern Trust,” said Agneta Wilhelmson Kåremar, AP4’s director of administration, in the Northern Trust release.

“Northern Trust has depth and quality of service offering and, we believe, will be able to help us meet our objectives of enhanced operational efficiency across our entire global portfolio.”

“To have been selected by AP4 is a powerful endorsement for us and another significant and exciting win for Northern Trust in the Swedish market place,” added Anne-Lise Winge, head of European sales at Northern Trust’s asset servicing group.

She said the firm’s long-term strategy was to “continue to build relationships with more Swedish institutions and further increase our presence in the region”.