UK - State Street Corp. says it has been awarded a securities services mandate by the $6.0bn (€4.6bn) Merseyside Pension Fund - ousting incumbent Bank of New York.

The brief covers custody, securities lending, cash management and foreign exchange services. Performance measurement services will also continue to be provided by State Street’s WM Performance Services division.

"We are pleased to have appointed State Street, who were highest placed in our competitive tendering process," John Parry, assistant director of finance for the Merseyside Pension Fund, was quoted as saying in a State Street release.

A Bank of New York spokesman was not immediately available for comment, but sources suggested pricing, not service, was an issue.

Parry said State Street's commitment to technology and their focus on risk controls were "significant factors" in the choice.

"This is an important and strategic piece of business for us to win - our ability to provide a broad suite of products over such a large mandate reinforces our prominent position in the pensions sector," said Alasdair Reid, head of State Street's asset owner group in the UK.

He said the firm had recently re-organised its customer outreach along sector lines into two "highly specialised, highly focused client management teams".

State Street has $9.5trn in assets under custody and $1.4trn in assets under management.