SWEDEN – Sjunde AP-fonden, Seventh Swedish Pension Fund or AP7, has awarded sole custody to Nordea and the Bank of New York.

It’s the first time the scheme has appointed a joint bidder to this role.

Nordea – the former custodian of the fund - and the Bank of New York bid for the mandate in a competitive tendering process announced in the European Tender Electronic Daily (TED) in December 2004.

This represents the first win following their strategic agreement announced in August. The two companies are working together to provide global custody services to Nordea’s institutional clients in the Nordic and Baltic Sea regions.

“We selected Nordea and the Bank of New York because we were very impressed by the joint offering that they represented,” said AP7 executive president Peter Norman.

“We have a need for a robust global custody solution to address the needs of the fund and we are confident that their appointment gives us this.”

The fund did not use an external adviser in the tendering process.

According to Nordea’s financial institutions division head, Birger Gizelius: “The market in our region is changing and becoming more transparent. The enhanced offering that we can provide our clients through the partnership with the Bank of New York recognises and addresses this.”