The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has appointed Northern Trust to provide securities lending and custody services for its £20 billion in pension assets.
PPF, known as the UK’s ‘pension lifeboat’ fund offers compensation to members of defined benefit schemes if their employer does not have enough assets to pay out.
Northern Trust will also provide collateral management and performance measurement services for the fund.
PPF has more than 200,000 members and help about 11 million people in the UK through 6,000 defined benefit schemes. It has multiple asset managers and invests across various asset classes.
Andy McKinnon, chief financial officer of PPF, said: “We appointed Northern Trust based on their proven expertise in supporting some of the most advanced pension funds in the UK and Continental Europe.”
He added: “As our assets continue to grow we look forward to working with Northern Trust as they deliver innovative solutions to support our evolving requirements.”
Northern Trust now services five of the top 10 pension funds in the UK, representing more than £240 billion in assets, or about 20 percent of the UK pensions market.
Penelope Biggs, head of Northern Trust’s institutional investor group in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: “We are proud to have been appointed by PPF as they evolve in terms of scale and sophistication.”
She added: “The retirement market in the UK faces dramatic change, particularly around defined benefit schemes, and our expertise and proven track record positions us to support the PPF with flexible and creative solutions tailored to their specific needs.”
