UK – The investment arm of the UK Railways Pension Trustee Company, Railpen Investments, has appointed Mellon European Fund Services to provide investment accounting services.

Mellon will provide accounting services for the schemes’ 15 pooled investment funds, with more than 20 investment managers responsible for total assets valued at 12 billion pounds. The funds will be converted to Mellon’s accounting platform in July.

Richard Godfrey, managing director of Mellon European Fund Services, said it was “probably the largest investment accounting mandate to have been awarded in the last twelve months”, adding that it was “a significant endorsement of Mellon's market-leading capabilities.”

Malcolm Gray, finance director of Railpen Investments, cited Mellon’s “flexibility”, “quality” and “value” as reasons for the choice.

CSTIM Ltd, a specialist management consultants in the investment management industry, assisted Railpen in the selection process.

Railpen Investments provides strategic investment advice, investment performance monitoring, investment accounting and appoints external investment managers and custodians for the Railways Pension Scheme and eight other railway industry pension schemes. They collectively form the sixth-largest pension fund in the UK.