NETHERLANDS - The Dutch €3.4bn Merchant Navy Pension Fund (Bedrijfspensioenfonds voor de Koopvaardij) has appointed ABN Amro Mellon Global Securities Services as its global custodian for assets valued at €1bn.

IPE understands the fund, which serves the retirement needs of the Dutch shipping industry, was  previously serviced by Citigroup, though it "expressed interest in moving its discretionary portfolio to ABN Amro Mellon in November" last year, according to a press release.

"ABN Amro Mellon's appointment was confirmed earlier this year, and in the past week the final tranche of assets - valued at just over €1bn - was successfully transitioned from the pension fund's previous provider," the new custodian said.

The fund's other €2.4bn in assets are invested with F&C in real estate, mortgage and pooled funds. It was F&C which also introduced the fund to ABN Amro Mellon.

The fund is unfazed by ABN Amro's recent sale of its 50% stake in custody joint venture ABN Amro Mellon to the newly merged Bank of New York Mellon.

Hylke Hylkema, chairman of the fund, commented: "We are please with the broad range of service capabilities offered by ABN Amro Mellon and its flexibility in developing a service model tailored to our requirements, as well as by the scope and scale of the Bank of New York Mellon organisation."