UK – Surrey county council is looking for a global custodian for its 850 million pound pension fund following Deutsche Bank’s exit from the custody market.

Formerly the fund had three custodians in operation. UBS acted as custodian for the portion of the fund managed by its asset management arm. J P Morgan Chase was custodian for the Baring Asset Management portfolio, and Deutsche Bank Securities Services was custodian for the portion of the fund managed by Deutsche Asset Management.

Following the 1.5 billion dollar sale Deutsche Bank’s custody services to State Street, the Boston-based firm has been acting as custodian.

Says Tracey Milner, pension fund accountant at Surrey council in southern England: “In response to Deutsche Bank pulling out we have decided to appoint one single independent global custodian for the whole fund.”

Milner added that all three custodians are welcome to re-tender, although they may not fit the requirements of an independent global custodian.

The closing date for applications is June 9.