The German Institute for Standardization has awarded its first outsourced chief investment office (OCIO) mandate to Berenberg Bank and consultancy Lurse.
According to the terms of the mandate, Berenberg will be responsible for developing the investment strategy and management of the pension assets, while Lurse will oversee the administration of the contractual trust arrangement (CTA), including the trust structure, reporting and operational management, the Hamburg-based bank said in a statement.
The Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V. (DIN), the Berlin-based national body that establishes standards in industries, holds hundreds of millions of euros in pension assets.
DIN will use Lurse’s CTA, which are widespread trust structures in Germany, to fund pension obligations.
OCIO models are becoming increasingly important to outsource the management of pension liabilities, especially in times of growing regulatory requirements and volatile capital markets.
“This mandate confirms that our approach to an integrated solution with the highest quality standards is meeting strong demand,” said Michael Kreibich, head of institutional clients at Berenberg, in a statement.
He added that institutional investors are increasingly relying on external OCIO models for occupational pensions, especially when an efficient, legally compliant and professionally managed CTA structure is necessary.
Alina Paul, head of institutional sales at Berenberg, added that going forward the aim of the bank is to provide clients with “comprehensive support along the entire value chain” to outsource the management of their investments.
Berenberg and Lurse Deutsche Pensions Treuhand (LDPT), the subsidiary of Lurse responsible for managing CTAs, signed a strategic cooperation to create a provider of OCIO solutions last year.
“The mandate we have now won demonstrates the need for tailor-made OCIO solutions that meet the highest requirements both strategically and operationally,” said Raphael Horst and Michael Hoppstädter, the managing directors of LDPT, in a statement.
DIN, Lurse and Berenburg declined to comment further.
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