UK – The 18 billion-pound (25.9 billion-euro) Universities Superannuation Scheme has chosen HSBC Global Fund Services to provide investment accounting and performance measurement.

The decision means a loss for the incumbent, State Street’s WM Co.

“It was not dissatisfaction with WM’s performance management,” said Colin Hunter, chief accountant at USS, the third-largest pension fund in the UK. “More that we did not want to move to the State Street accounting platform.”

He said USS wanted a single source for investment accounting and performance measurement: “It makes sense to have them both provided by the same person.” He added that USS reviewed the market and that the final decision came down to State Street/WM and HSBC.

“HSBC’s strong product, accounting platform, flexible reporting and the speed and responsiveness of its service team were some of the key deciding factors,” he said.

HSBC said it would begin providing investment accounting service from November 1 and performance measurement from January 1.

Ian Stephenson, head of investment administration at Edinburgh-based HSBC Global Fund Services, said: “This major win for HSBC demonstrates the strength of our pension fund offering, particularly among self-managed funds. It consolidates our position as a leading provider to some of the UK’s largest pension schemes.”

A spokeswoman for State Street/WM was not immediately able to comment. State Street acquired WM as part of its 1.5 billion-dollar purchase of Deutsche Bank’s Global Securities Services arm. State Street has said that WM needs to “move up the value chain”.

HSBC Global Fund Services provides investment administration and performance consultancy to around 550 funds worth around 80 billion pounds.



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